Wrangell St Elias National Park and Preserve Alaska

Wrangell St Elias National Park and Preserve Alaska

Wrangell-St. Elias is a world unto itself. And that world isn’t far removed from the ice ages. Four mountain ranges meet in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. This coastal park, at 20,625 square miles the nation’s largest national park. Nine of the country’s 16 tallest peaks are here, topped by Mount St. Elias at 18,008 feet. Bagley Ice Field is the continent’s largest subpolar ice field, and Malaspina Glacier is larger than Rhode Island.

The park is home to a lot of black and brown bears, caribou, sheep and goats, and the Copper River system adjoining it is one of the richest in salmon. To the southwest is the Chugach National Forest. To the southeast are Tongass National Forest and Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, as well as Canada’s Kluane National Park. The red wooden buildings of Kennecott Mine, once the richest copper mine in the world, sit above the rock-covered Kennicott glacier.

Long ago, a handwriting mistake led to the different spellings of the mining company’s name and those of the glacier and river. Gold mining at McCarthy, Chisana and other locations around what is now the park added to the area’s legends. The park’s biggest hamlets are McCarthy and Kennicott, four miles apart and both across the river from the end of the road. Hardy vehicles can be driven to Nabesna, an old mining settlement on the north side of the park.

Wrangell-St. Elias is nestled next to Canada in what might be considered Alaska’s “mainland.” The park is partly bordered by the Tok Cutoff of the Glenn Highway (Highway 1), the Richardson Highway (Highway 4) and the Gulf of Alaska. The main destination town, McCarthy, is 240 miles directly east of Anchorage. Valdez, on Prince William Sound, is at the southwestern edge of the park.

The big attractions are the ghost-town mining-camp atmosphere, the red-painted mine buildings themselves, and Kennicott and Root glaciers, and Mounts Drum and Sanford. Cruise liners pass Malaspina and Hubbard glaciers. The weather can change quickly, so layered clothing is most appropriate. The country is isolated, rough, generally out of cellphone service and full of bears. Medical help may be far away, and hikers should travel with companions.

The average July low-high temperature range at McCarthy is 41 to 71. The record low in January is 58 below. Check the daily weather and the forecast at Alaska.com’s weather page. Brown bears live here. Also, keep an eye open for moose, mountain goats, bald eagles and small mammals such as foxes and beavers. Along the coast, watch for migrating shorebirds in the spring and fall, sea lions and sea otters. Some of the activities offerd here are flightseeing, rafting on the Copper River, cycling, hiking on such remote routes as the Goat Trail, glacier trekking on Root Glacier, wildlife viewing.