Just How Many Episodes Gold Rush Season 13 Has Planned?
The thirteenth consecutive season (not including its numerous spin-offs) of Gold Rush was significantly longer than any previous season of the reality series about hard-working placer gold miners.
And while we appreciate the amount of content the Discovery Channel provides, it begs the question. Was this originally planned? In this article we will try to figure that out.
Officially, the first episode of the last season to date aired on September 30, 2022, and the final episode was released on March 24, 2023. However, the first episode was preceded by three specials released between September 16 and September 30.
The season focuses on several mine owners and workers, Parker Schnabel, Tony Beets, Clayton Brothers, and Fred Lewis, as they work to find gold, develop new mines, find new sites, hire new workers, apply new engineering solutions, and deal with the financial side of gold mining. Basically, everything that brave miners do!
However, in addition to the aforementioned participants, Dave Turin and Rick Ness were also supposed to be full cast members this season, but they only appear in specials or cameos at the beginning of the season, not on a full-time basis.
Both have been on the show practically since the beginning. Rick, who first worked under Schnabel, had become an independent miner by the end of season eight and was working as a mine boss by season nine. However, he decided not to participate in this episode. That's why we only see him at the very beginning of the season.
For Dave, however, this season was his last.
As an experienced quarry foreman, he first worked for the Hoffmans, but left the main show after season 7, following his infamous fistfight. He organized his own mining team and was the subject of the spin-off Gold Rush: Dave Turin's Lost Mine. However, he decided to retire by selling his own claim to his employees, which was featured in an episode of The Last Frontier and the Dozer Dave, All In special.
Thus, this season has 26 main episodes and 5 specials, for a total of 31 episodes. That's a lot! Apparently, the reason for this is that the producers had to create the season structure at the very last moment when they learned of Rick and Dave's plans.
Meanwhile, the twenty-sixth and final episode of Season 13 titled Klondike Climax will air on the Discovery Channel on April 1.