Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve

Wrangell-St. Elias sits where four great mountain ranges meet: the volcanic Wrangells, the ice-capped St. Elias Mountains, the Chugach, and the eastern edge of the Alaska Range. Out of that collision rise some of the highest summits in the country. Mount St. Elias climbs past 18,000 feet, second only to Denali among peaks in the United States, and Mount Wrangell is a broad volcano that still gives off warmth and steam near its summit. Around them spreads a landscape so large and so wild that most of it has never been mapped by boot.

The glaciers here are the other giants. Enormous ice fields high in the mountains feed some of the greatest glaciers on the continent, and they pour down the valleys in slow, cracking rivers of ice. One of them, the Malaspina, fans out near the coast in a lobe of ice larger than the entire state of Rhode Island. Closer to the road, the Root Glacier and Kennicott Glacier reach almost to the doorstep of the old mining town, close enough that visitors can lace on gear and walk out onto the blue ice.

For all its size, the park keeps a few doors open. A rough gravel road leads to McCarthy and Kennecott in the heart of the Wrangells, and a second gravel road, the Nabesna Road, threads into the quieter northern country of low tundra, braided rivers, and distant peaks. Beyond those two thin ribbons of road, the rest is raw wilderness, home to grizzly and black bears, moose, caribou, wolves, and Dall sheep, and reached only by small plane, packraft, or your own two feet. That emptiness is not a flaw here. It is the whole point.

• The McCarthy Road runs off the Edgerton Highway from the town of Chitina and follows an old railroad bed about sixty miles east to the Kennicott River, the gateway to McCarthy and Kennecott. It is gravel, slow, and often washboarded, and it can take a few hours each way. Check current conditions before you start, and check your rental car agreement, since many companies do not allow their cars on this road.
• The Nabesna Road leaves the Tok Cut-Off (AK-1) near Slana and runs about forty-two miles into the park's northern country. It is also gravel and unpaved, crosses a few streams that can rise after rain, and grows rougher the farther in you go. Check conditions and your rental agreement here too before committing to the drive.
• Most of the park has no roads at all. The deep interior, and the giant peaks and glaciers, are reached by small bush plane on a flightseeing trip or a drop-off, or by experienced backcountry travel on foot and by raft.
• The main entry point for planning is the Wrangell-St. Elias Visitor Center at Copper Center, near Mile 106 of the Richardson Highway. It sits roughly two hundred miles east of Anchorage and is the place to stop for maps, weather, and current road reports before you head into the park.

• Tour the Kennecott Mill Town, where the tall red buildings of a century-old copper mill still climb the mountainside above the glacier. Guided tours lead through the towering mill and the surrounding company town, now preserved as a National Historic Landmark.
• Spend time in McCarthy, the tiny, friendly frontier town a few miles down the road from Kennecott, with its handful of lodges, a saloon, and an easygoing end-of-the-road feel that is a destination all its own.
• Walk out onto the Root Glacier, one of the most accessible glaciers in the park. A trail from Kennecott leads to the ice, where guided walks explore its blue surface, meltwater pools, and small crevasses with the right gear and a guide.
• Take a flightseeing tour by bush plane from McCarthy or the highway. From the air the scale finally makes sense: peak after peak, glaciers stretching to the horizon, and country no road will ever reach.
• Drive the Nabesna Road into the park's quiet north side for tundra, wildlife, old mining relics, and short hikes, a slower and more solitary way to feel the wilderness than the busier McCarthy side.

Long before any mine or road, this country was and remains the homeland of Alaska Native peoples. The Ahtna Athabascans have lived along the Copper River and through the Wrangell Mountains for thousands of years, and the Upper Tanana Athabascans in the north, while the Tlingit connect to the coastal edges of the range. They hunted, fished the salmon runs, and traveled these valleys across countless generations. One of the oldest known sites in the park, along a creek the Ahtna call by its traditional name, dates back roughly thirteen thousand years. These are living cultures, and their descendants still hunt, fish, and gather across this land today.

The chapter most visitors come to see began around 1900, when prospectors found astonishingly rich veins of copper in the mountains above the Kennicott Glacier. Wealthy investors, including the Guggenheim family and J.P. Morgan, poured money into building a mill, a company town, and a two-hundred-mile railroad to haul the ore out to the coast. The operation took the name Kennecott, spelled with an e after a clerical mix-up, and for a time it was one of the richest copper mines in the world.

The mill ran from 1911 until 1938, when the copper finally played out. Almost overnight the town emptied, workers boarding the last train and leaving buildings, tools, and records behind. The red mill and its outbuildings stood abandoned in the mountains for decades, slowly becoming the haunting ghost town visitors walk through now.

The park itself came much later. In 1978 President Jimmy Carter set the area aside as a national monument, and in 1980 Congress made it Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, part of a sweeping act that protected vast stretches of Alaska. It was folded into a giant international wilderness that crosses into Canada, and the National Park Service now works to preserve both the wild country and the fragile old buildings at Kennecott.

• Wrangell-St. Elias is the largest national park in the United States, more than 13 million acres. It is bigger than Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Switzerland combined, and larger than nine individual US states.
• Nine of the sixteen highest peaks in the United States rise inside the park, crowned by Mount St. Elias at over 18,000 feet, the second-tallest mountain in the country.
• Mount Wrangell is a rare active volcano capped in ice. Warm ground and steam near its summit melt caves into the surrounding snow, a strange meeting of fire and ice.
• The Malaspina Glacier near the coast spreads into a lobe of ice larger than the entire state of Rhode Island, one of the biggest glaciers of its kind on Earth.
• The park's name comes with a spelling twist: the mining company and mill are spelled Kennecott, but the glacier and river beside them are spelled Kennicott, the result of an old clerical error that stuck.
• Together with neighboring parks in Alaska and Canada, Wrangell-St. Elias forms one of the largest protected wilderness areas on the planet, recognized by the United Nations as a World Heritage Site.
• To reach the town of McCarthy for years, visitors had to pull themselves across the Kennicott River in an open tram cart on a cable. A footbridge later replaced it, but you still leave your car on the far bank and walk in.

• There is no entrance fee to Wrangell-St. Elias, and no entrance station or gate on the highway. You simply drive in.
• Summer is the season to come. The gravel roads, the Kennecott tours, glacier walks, and flightseeing all run in the warmer months, and much of the park is snowbound, dark, and closed to services in winter.
• Come self-sufficient. Services inside the park are few and seasonal, so carry a full tank of gas, a spare tire, food, water, warm and waterproof clothing, and anything else you may need before you start down either gravel road.
• Check road conditions and your rental car agreement before driving the McCarthy Road or the Nabesna Road. Both are unpaved, slow, and can change with the weather, and many rental companies restrict travel on them.
• Stop first at the Wrangell-St. Elias Visitor Center near Copper Center for maps, weather, ranger advice, and current road reports before heading deeper into the park.

It is enormous. At more than 13 million acres it is the largest national park in the United States, bigger than Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Switzerland combined, and larger than nine individual states. Most of that vast area has no roads and no trails, so even a long visit only scratches the surface of what is out there.

Two rough, unpaved gravel roads lead in: the McCarthy Road, which runs about sixty miles from Chitina to the McCarthy and Kennecott area, and the Nabesna Road, which runs about forty-two miles into the quieter north side from near Slana. Both are slow, so give yourself plenty of time, check current conditions before you go, and check your rental car agreement, since many companies do not allow their cars on these roads. Beyond the roads, the deep interior is reached by small bush plane or on foot.

No. Wrangell-St. Elias does not charge an entrance fee, and there is no entrance station or gate. You drive straight in. The best first stop is the visitor center near Copper Center for maps, current road reports, and ranger advice.

Kennecott is a preserved copper mill town at the end of the McCarthy Road, where the tall red buildings of a mill that ran from 1911 to 1938 still climb the mountainside above the glacier. When the copper ran out the town was abandoned almost overnight, leaving a ghost town in the mountains. Today it is a National Historic Landmark, and guided tours lead through the towering old mill and the surrounding buildings.

McCarthy is a tiny, friendly frontier town a few miles from Kennecott, deep in the heart of the park. It has a handful of lodges, a saloon, and an easygoing end-of-the-road feel, and it serves as the base for glacier walks, mine tours, and flightseeing. You leave your vehicle at the Kennicott River and cross a footbridge to reach it on foot.

By air. Since roads only reach the edges of Wrangell-St. Elias, small bush planes are the way to experience the giant peaks and glaciers at the center. Flightseeing tours and drop-off flights lift off from McCarthy and from spots along the highway, and from the air the true scale of the mountains and ice finally comes into view.

Summer, roughly late May through early September. That is when the gravel roads are open, the Kennecott tours and glacier walks are running, flightseeing operates, and the weather is mildest. In winter the roads and most services close, days are short and cold, and the park becomes a place for only the most experienced and prepared travelers.

Yes. Services inside the park are few and seasonal, so come self-sufficient. Fuel up before you start down either gravel road, carry a spare tire, and bring food, water, warm and waterproof clothing, and any medications or gear you might need. There are limited services in the McCarthy and Kennecott area in summer, but you should not count on finding what you need once you are inside.

Yes, and it is one of the highlights. The Root Glacier is one of the most accessible glaciers in the park, reached by a trail from Kennecott. Guided walks lead out onto the blue ice to see meltwater pools and small crevasses. Glaciers are dangerous to explore alone, so go with a guide and the right gear rather than venturing onto the ice on your own.

This is true wilderness, home to grizzly and black bears, moose, wolves, caribou, and Dall sheep. Carry bear spray, store food properly, and keep your distance from all animals. The bigger risks, though, are the remoteness itself: long gravel roads far from help, fast-changing mountain weather, cold rivers, and glacier travel. Tell someone your plans, come prepared for cold and rain even in summer, and never step onto ice or into swift water without a guide and proper equipment.