We slept well in Tok and started our drive to Chicken, Alaska about mid morning. Ever since my dad heard about Chicken and the Top of the World Highway, he just had to go there. I have to say, there’s more chicken statues and signs than businesses in this tiny little community. And two fairly large campgrounds!
Luckily we had a paved road for the day, but the landscape was not much to look at due to being in the land of permafrost. When we came upon taller trees and more vegetation, we couldn’t help but notice the remains of an incredible fire. Back in 2004, about 1.3 million acres burned down. In some places, we could see the burnt trees on both sides of the road. If there had been any civilization, it could have been a devastating loss of property and life.
You couldn’t miss Chicken with a crane holding up signs like this. First you are driving in the middle of nowhere and then you see a crane and a couple buildings.
The most noticeable objects were the chickens in front of the handful of businesses. I don’t know if they were having a contest for the best chicken or what. You can decide the winner of this one.
What a funny little place! Chicken is only here because of the mining that was taking place in the area. I think hunters are attracted to the caribou herd that passes through as well.
I will point out the other businesses in Chicken. Beside the cafe, there is a liquor store and a gift shop in the same “strip mall” if you want to call it that.
This is the gift shop and office at the other campground.
Our campground had some unique features. Each year they host a Chickenstock music festival and the stage is ready for use year round. I wonder how many people flock to the area? Notice the play on words there?
We also had access to a gold dredge right in front of the campground. It was used for mining and ended up here to be saved and preserved.
There is no cell service in Chicken. Water is trucked in from Fairbanks and electricity is ran from a generator. Needless to say, we had no cell service either. We were allowed one hour of internet from the campground. Talk about roughing it!
They offered dredge tours twice a day if six people or more signed up. We had no luck getting two more on the list. Gold panning was on site and you are guaranteed to find gold flakes.
How does a town get a name like chicken? Well, the ptarmigan is the Alaska state bird and there are many in this valley. The original settlers wanted to name it ptarmigan but no one knew how to spell it. These birds look like chickens so they used the easier word to spell – CHICKEN.
I will say goodnight with this picture. Isn’t this the bomb? (Tongue in cheek)
