Need some cigarettes or ammunition? Both are for sale in this growing community at the site of a historical railroad camp. Look for the building with a big sign that says "Cigarettes and Ammunition."
This is one of first opportunities to get a drink of mountain water on the McCarthy Road. You can pull over after the little bridge and try to find a spot to fill up. Don't wander too far from the bridge as it's both private property and a major bear corridor. Locals have been filling up water bottles from Chokosna Creek for as long as anyone can remember without incident, thought most tour guides would suggest using iodine tablets.
Before you reach the bridge over Chokosna Creek, you'll pass a private airstrip on the south side of the road, where the current store sits. Private airstrips are common in Alaska, and not a good place to walk dogs or park your car.
Just before the bridge you'll see a red and white building on your left. This is a private residence in what used to be a bunkhouse station for the railroad, Chokosna Station. There were stations of various sizes all along the 196-mile railroad. Crews maintaining the tracks, trestles, and bridges were kept employed and busy by avalanches, flooding, heavy snows, frost-heaves, and wild temperature swings that damaged and altered the steel rails and wooden slats.
