Brookston is a tiny town located on the Fond du Lac Indian Reservation a few miles north Cloquet. It exists mainly since it is the first spot where Great Northern trains running west on the transcontinental rail line had to stop for water. The Great Norther later built a small rail yard in Brookston for sorting local freight trains.

The CSAH-31 highway bridge dates back to 1990, when a previous river bridge was replaced with this modern prestressed concrete girder bridge. The bridge features a reinforced concrete deck, modern style guardrails, and large T-shaped piers. Beyond the modern design, there are no decorative features on the bridge.

From Floodwood down to Scanlon, the release of water from glacial lakes cut a very distinct river channel about 40 miles long and 50 feet deep. Given the size of the glacial lakes, the water flow could have cut the majority of this river channel in just a few weeks as the lake would drain. At Brookston, the glacial river ran into a ledge of stone that would not yield to the water flow. Whereas the channel far wider than the St. Louis River of modern times, at Brookston, there is a large area that has been carved down 15 to 20 feet, and a very narrow river channel that ended up at the 40 foot depth. From here, the river begins its descent down to Lake Superior, gradually at first, then plunging over the rocks south of Scanlon and through Jay Cooke State Park.