Even in a state famous for its size, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park stands out. It is by far the largest of our national parks—almost six times the size of Yellowstone.

Four major mountain ranges converge here: the volcanic Wrangells, the Alaska, the Chugach, and the St. Elias—tallest coastal mountains in the world. Together they contain 9 of the 16 highest peaks in the United States, 4 of them above 16,000 feet.

You fly over it and see mountains beyond mountains, glaciers after glaciers, rivers upon rivers. You float a river and watch the moods and mountains change by the minute. As you walk the tundra, you find Dall’s sheep and mountain goats grazing.

Location: Alaska
Established: December 2, 1980
Size: 13,188,000 acresThere are more than 150 glaciers; one, the Malaspina, is larger than Rhode Island. In 1980 Wrangell-St. Elias and adjoining Kluane National Park Reserve in Canada, along with Glacier Bay NP and Tatshenshini in British Columbia, were designated a United Nations World Heritage site.

Vast and rugged as it is, the park is not a fortress. Two roads lead into small communities, remnants of the gold- and copper-mining towns that thrived in the early days of the 20th century. Today not mining but the nearly limitless hiking, rafting, kayaking, and climbing opportunities beckon.

How to Get There

Drive, take a bus, or charter a plane. By car from Anchorage, take Alas. 1 (Glenn Hwy.) 189 miles northeast to Glennallen. Continue northeast 74 miles along the Copper River and the park’s western boundary to Slana, where an unpaved road branches 42 miles into the park, ending at the town of Nabesna.

Take one of the two unpaved roads into the park. The McCarthy Road is maintained and usually passable in summer, though a four-wheel drive may be needed in other seasons.  Within 60 miles of Chitina, the McCarthy Road ends at a foot bridge across the Kennicott River.

Stop at park headquarters in Copper Center for latest road conditions.

The Slana-Nabesna Road is also maintained, including some river crossings, but can require four-wheel drive in high water. Both roads end at trailheads for many backcountry hikes.

Or, charter a plane into a remote part of the park and hike, or run a river. Several commercial companies offer guided rafting or kayaking trips on the rivers and in the spectacular coastal bays. You can get a full listing of them from the park.

Or, head toward McCarthy on the Richardson Hwy. from Glennallen 32 miles southeast to the Edgerton cutoff (Alas. 10), then turn left and continue 33 miles to Chitina. There the pavement ends but a road follows an old railroad bed about 60 miles into the park. Buses also run regularly in summer from Anchorage to Valdez with stops in Glennallen.

Air charters into the park operate out of Anchorage, Fairbanks, Yakutat, Cordova, Glennallen, Gulkana, Tok, Chitina, McCarthy, Nabesna, and Northway. Commercial jets service Yakutat and Cordova. In summer, the Alaska State Ferry serves Valdez and Cordova.

When To Go

Summer. Lodges and guide services operate in the park from mid-May to the end of September. June is best for wildflowers; July has the warmest days; berries ripen in August. Be prepared for cloudy skies, but September can be beautiful with clear skies, autumn colors, no mosquitoes, and a dusting of new snow on the mountain peaks. March and April offer excellent cross-country skiing for those of strong will.

History

Designated as a national park in 1980, Wrangell-St. Elias sprawls across 13.2 million acres in the Southcentral region of Alaska.

It abuts against Canada’s Kluane National Park and together their 20 million acres represent one of the largest wilderness areas left in the world, the reason the two parks were recognized by the United Nations as a World Heritage site in 1979.

One of the park’s most noteworthy historical features is the now-deserted Kennecott Mine town site, a National Historic Landmark.

After copper was discovered in the area in 1900, a group of wealthy investors formed the Kennecott Copper Corporation (named when a clerical worker misspelled Kennicott), built the Copper River and Northwest Railroad including its famous Million Dollar Bridge, established the company town of Kennicott and from 1911-38 made more than $100 million mining some of the richest copper veins the country has ever known.

Since no gambling or drinking were allowed at the company town, McCarthy quickly sprang up nearby as a place where miners would find ‘wine, women and song,’ in its saloons, restaurants, hotels, and pool halls.

A number of the buildings from that era still stand in both Kennicott and McCarthy, making the area the best remaining example of early 20th century copper mining.

Ecosystem

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve is often called the “mountain kingdom of North America,” as the Chugach, Wrangell and St. Elias ranges converge in an area the size of six Yellowstone National Parks.

The St. Elias Range merges with the Wrangells in the heart of the park and then arcs eastward past the Canadian border where it forms the highest coastal range in the world.

Within the park’s borders are nine of the 16 highest peaks in the country, including the second highest, Mount St. Elias (18,008 feet), Mt Bona (16,421 feet), Mount Blackburn (16,390 feet) and Mount Sanford (16,237 feet).

From its glaciated roof of mountains and peaks, the park’s terrain descends to the north as treeless tundra and then boreal-forested uplands. To the south the glaciers extend from the mountains almost to the tidewaters of the Gulf of Alaska.

Wildlife

Wildlife includes Dall sheep and mountain goats in the alpine region, caribou around the Wrangell Mountains to the north and moose in the bogs and brushy areas of the lowlands.

Bison were released in Copper River Valley in 1950 and along the Chitina River in 1962 and remnants of those herds remain today.

Black and brown bears roam throughout the park. 

Things to Do:

Beyond exploring the old mining towns, other activities include backpacking and hiking, mountain biking, birding, camping, sportfishing and hunting, horseback riding, whitewater rafting and kayaking.

Mountaineering and ice climbing are popular with the more adventurous, while wildlife viewing and flightseeing are enjoyed by most tourists.

In the winter visitors arrive to cross-country ski, snowmobile and snowshoe.