Where Is Hoffman Family Gold Actually Filmed?

"Hoffman Family Gold” is the latest in a long line of spin-offs to Discovery's highly popular reality series "Gold Rush," and heralds the return of former series lead Todd Hoffman. Hoffman served as the face of "Gold Rush" throughout its first eight seasons, leading his team into the harsh, unforgiving wilderness with dreams of making it big in the gold mining business.

Hoffman left the series after Season 8 to pursue a wide variety of other careers and hobbies, though it's clear that Hoffman's love of gold mining never truly left. Enter "Hoffman Family Gold," which chronicles Todd's return to the profession he loves. This time, he's joined by his father Jack (a former gold miner himself), and his son Hunter. Per Discovery, it's up to the three of them to turn around a struggling gold mine in Alaska before the winter season arrives. 

As with any popular reality series, there's no doubt that some fans will question the legitimacy of what's presented in "Hoffman Family Gold," though there is one thing you see in the show that is 100% authentic: the Alaskan countryside.

During a recent interview with Forbes, Todd Hoffman explained that the show is genuinely shot in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness. "We're only about 200 miles from the Russian border up there," revealed Hoffman. "We're in the middle of nowhere. We're by Siberia." Hoffman went on to describe how shooting the show on location means that all the drama surrounding the team's isolation is completely authentic. "There's nowhere to turn and run. If your stuff isn't working, you gotta improvise," he said.

Considering how often "Gold Rush" and its spin-offs emphasize the harsh, unyielding conditions that gold miners have to endure on the job, it seems necessary that the show should be filmed in the Alaskan countryside. If the show was shot anywhere else, the audience would miss out on all the real-life struggles that come with working in such an isolated, unforgiving environment. In any case, the fact that the series is genuinely filmed in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness helps to lend a bit of credibility to the show — something that every reality series needs in order to keep its fans engaged.