Look, this park is absolutely bonkers. The fact that it is 2x the state of Massachusetts or 6x the size of Yellowstone and it only has 100 mils of roads inside it is crazy. We read all the facts and figures about this park but nothing could prepare us for the beauty and love we would find here. Our trip here was planned to the minute with glacier tours, glacier lake kayaking, and white water rafting. Knowing this, we could never have expected the town of McCarthy to gift us amazing friends with amazingly unique experiences. We played softball in their community softball league – something the locals look forward to every week. We had a marathon bonfire (it lasted 15 hours) with a prospective governor of Alaska. A fellow traveler brought over some beef tongue to pressure cook and share with us. Our tour guide became our friend. We ended up staying 3 days longer than planned. We absolutely loved this experience and by the end, it felt like home.
TL;DR Wrangell-St. Elias National Park Pro Tips:
- Kennecott Base Camp is the best campground in town – you have your free range choice of a world-class view of the stairway ice fall, Kennecott glacier lakeside, or Kennecott riverside.
- Root Glacier hike is an absolute must-do! With a guide it is awesome (McCarthy River Tours and Outfitters hooked us up)! They provide crampons and know the secrets to find what you want (a blue pool perhaps), but not required. Microspikes and tension for adventure will get you out there just fine!
- What you pack in, you pack out. NOT just on the trailheads…to the park! There are no public trashcans, few public vault toilets, and limited goods available to the public. Come prepared with plenty of consumables and plenty of storage and trash bags to pack it all out
- Come with an open mind – anyone that has found themselves living in McCarthy, whether it is for the summer or full-time has a story. Take a moment to slow down, have a chat and meet some awesome folk. Maybe you’ll even get the invite to the local softball game 😉
- If you have the equipment and experience, take a front-country multi-day trek. There are plenty of places to camp safely throughout the surrounding areas of McCarthy – take advantage of this!
- Don’t just stay in the campground – every night of the week they have a fun night in McCarthy. The Golden Saloon has live music and open mics and the Potato has amazingly diverse cuisine.
The Juicy Facts
Established: December 2, 1980
Acreage: 13,188,000
Visitation Rank: 56
Wrangell – St. Elias is America’s largest National Park and Preserve covering 13.2 million acres of pristine wilderness where four mountain ranges collide: the Wrangell, St. Elias, Chugach & the eastern part of the Alaskan Range. It is a combination of historic mining sites, rivers, lakes, & glaciated peaks so rugged that many remain untrodden by humans. This park is the perfect adventure wonderland for skilled backpackers, mountaineers, & wildlife-watchers. It is home to animals such as bears, bison, mountain goats, & wolves, as well as the Indigenous people who pass on the skills of subsistence living to future generations. Containing nine of the highest peaks in North America – including Mt St. Elias at 18,009 feet – this park will hypnotize you with its beauty, mass, and rugged grandeur.
Park Zones
Wrangell – St. Elias National Park and Preserve otherwise known as “the mountain kingdom of North America” is the largest national park in the United States. Due to its sheer size & mountainous terrain, access to much of Wrangell-St. Elias is limited to hearty adventurers who fly into the park for backcountry hiking, mountaineering, & rafting.
There are only two roads that enter the park: The infamous – McCarthy Road and the road less taken – Nabesna Road. Both roads are gravel with many potholes loosely maintained by the state of Alaska.
McCarthy Road:
This is where history comes alive. The road starts in the town of Chitina & ends a 1/2 mile before McCarthy. It is a narrow, gravel 59-mile-long road. Be cautious of cliffsides, potholes, & large rocks. While the road is rough, we were pleasantly surprised with how ‘not super rough’ it was. The books and guides made it seem like popping a tire was an imminent threat. It was not – this road was no worse than most other roads in Alaska.
From where the road ends you can walk across a footbridge & take a shuttle or walk the five miles into the area of the Kennecott Mines National Historic Landmark.
🏘 The town of McCarthy & ⛏Kennecott: After copper was discovered in the area in 1900, a group of wealthy investors established the mining town of Kennecott. Since no gambling or drinking was allowed at the company town, the town of McCarthy was formed. The famous towns were swarmed with prospectors, miners, & investors forming two interconnected vice & mining towns.
Hiking:
- 🥾 Root Glacier Hike – This is without a question a MUST DO. 5.7-mile out-and-back trail from Kennecott with 793 FT elevation gain. This trail takes you out onto the glacier to roam freely. On the glacier, you’ll ice slot canyons, crevasses, glacier waterfalls, blue pools, caves and so much more!
- 🥾 Bonanza Mine Trail – 8.3-mile out-and-back trail with nearly 4,000 FT elevation gain. On the Bonanza Mine Trail, you’ll see an amazing display of hundred-year-old mining equipment and buildings ravaged by nature, gorgeous views of Kennecott glacier, Fireweed Mountain, and the surrounding mountain ranges
- 🥾 Erie Mine Trail – This 8-mile out-and-back trail doesn’t gain more than 1,000 ft elevation, but it takes you along the moraine of Root Glacier towards the Stairway Ice Fall and up to the base of where the Erie mine is (note it is 3,000 ft below where the mine was)
- 🥾 Jumbo Mine Trail – This 10-mile out-and-back trail gains 3,400 ft elevation up to the Jumbo mine. About 1/2 mile before you reach the mine the trail ends and it becomes a boulder at your own risk.
- 🥾 Fireweed Mountain McCarthy Peak – 11-mile out-and-back trail gaining over 5,500 ft elevation. This route is not well-marked so it requires trail finding, bouldering, and bushwhacking at times. This trail is highly rewarding but equally demanding.
- 🥾 Donoho Peak – 3 glaciers, 1 hike! This 13-16 mile out-and-back trail gains ~1,100 ft elevation, requires crossing 1 glacier, climbing the moraine, trekking near Donoho lakes, and climbing Donoho peak if you’re daring (adds 3,000 ft of elevation gain) – This one can also be a multi-day front-country trek!
Wrangell-St. Elias is MASSIVE – so the hiking opportunities are truly endless. This park offers many multi-day backcountry hikes, river rafting tours, and front-country hikes. The list above is by no means exhaustive, but it does contain the most popular hikes in this part of the park!
If you want some extra support on your journey in this park, 3 main companies are here to help you:
- McCarthy River Tours and Outfitters (Mr. Toes)
- Kennecott Wilderness Guides (KWGs, pronounced kwigs)
- St. Elias Alpine Guides (SE-AG)
Each of these groups offers something a little different ensuring you can do whatever you want. Our experiences (Root Glacier private tour and Rafting in a Glacier Lake and ClassII/III White water rapids were with McCarthy River Tours and Outfitters. Their guides are absolutely incredible and we would recommend an experience with them 10/10 times!
Camping in this zone:
Most camping is located at the beginning and end of McCarthy Road. The McCarthy Road boasts spectacular scenery, views of the Copper and Chitina Rivers, wildlife viewing, and historic structures.
- Base Camp Kennecott: This is one of our all-time favorite campgrounds. It is well worth the $30 per night as it is the closest camping spot to the footbridge, and has spots all along the river or with gorgeous views of the Stairway Ice Fall and Kennecott Glacier. Furthermore, it runs up against the Kennecott Glacier Lake shoreline meaning you can camp on a glacial lake, next to a glacier, with views of one of the largest ice falls in the world!
- Glacier View Campground: This primitive, yet private campground meets you at the end of McCarthy Road. It contains an office cabin that offers lavender lattes, ice cream, espressos, and much much more.
- Copper River Campground: Just after the Copper River Bridge crossing at MilePost 1.6 is a private primitive campground. (12 sites)
If you’re a non-camper, no worries! There is an abundance of unique Airbnb opportunities, cabin rentals, and lodging in both McCarthy and Kennecott!
Nabesna Road/Slana:
🐟 Starting at mile 60 of the Tok Cutoff Highway, the Nabesna Road is nestled in a valley between two mountain ranges. This road is unpaved and only intermittently maintained by Alaska DOT. It is recommended you have a high clearance 4-wheel drive vehicle to take on this route. It is only 42 miles in length but is likely to take you 1.5-2 hours each way.
The National Park Services team did a great job pulling together this playbook for the Nabesna road.
Hiking:
- Caribou Creek Trail – 7 miles, 1,122 ft elevation gain out-and-back hike. This hike will take you along a creek with awesome opportunities for birding, wildlife seeing, and trail running
- Copper Lake Trail – This 5.2 mile, ~650 ft elevation gain out-and-back hike is a nice stroll to a lake.
- Lost Creek Trail – This 23.8-mile, 4,000 ft elevation fain loop trail is a fantastic experience for those who are prepared for this sort of hike. It’s a fulldayer so be sure to bring water, food, sunblock, bug spray, and a good attitude. You’ll see creeks, rivers, lakes, glaciers, and almost assuredly wildlife.
- Skookum Volcano Trail – This 4.2 mile, 1,300 ft elevation gain out-and-back is a moderately challenging route that takes you by the beautiful Skookum creek created many years ago.
Camping:
- Rufus Creek – rugged campground with no vault toilets
- Kettle Lake – rugged campground with a great view of the Wrangell Mountains with no vault toilets
- Dead Dog Hill – rugged campground with a vault toilet
- Rock Lake – rugged campground with a vault toilet
- Kendesnii Campground – The only NPS campground in the park with 10 designated campsites each capable of tent camping or a medium to small RV. They come equipped with a picnic table and a fire ring and the broader campground comes with 2 luxury vault toilets (they are not actually luxurious)
- Jack Creek – Rugged campground with 2 picnic tables and a vault toilet
Yakutat and Coastal Area:
🛩 Accessible only by plane or boat, this Southern border area encompasses the park’s coastal region, with 155 miles of little-known coastline. Here, huge mountains, enormous glaciers, & temperate rainforest meet the ocean.
Attractions: Icy Bay, Mt St. Elias, Malaspina Glacier Historic Natural Landmark, Hubbard Glacier
For Additional Resources Check Out:
NavigatingVanLife Instagram Guide
Wrangell-St. Elias Google Map
