Wrangell-St. Elias National Park

Year Established: 1980
Annual Visitors: 50,000
Size: 13.2 Million Acres
State: Alaska

Best Time to Visit Wrangell-St. Elias National Park

June to September

If you are planning to visit more national parks, check out our complete list of all US National Parks here.

Best Experiences in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park

• Take a flightseeing Tour
• Kennecott Copper Mine
• McCarthy Road Scenic Drive
• Nabesna Road Scenic Drive
• Ski over the open countryside
• Witness the volcano’s steam vents

A Brief History

This park is six times as big as Yellowstone and more than 17 times as big as Yosemite. It is the largest park in the United States. It is called the “Mountain Kingdom of North America” because it has the most peaks above 16,000 feet and is made up of several major mountain ranges. The park is named for two of them.

This place has both fire and ice. Mount Wrangell is one of the largest active volcanoes in the world, and the park is also home to 150 glaciers. These ice giants cover a third of Wrangell-St. Elias, and the 80-mile-long Bagley Icefield is the largest subpolar ice field in North America.

In an age when most glaciers are melting and shrinking, the 76-mile-long Hubbard Glacier is one of the few that is growing and getting thicker. It was named after Gardiner Hubbard, who started the National Geographic Society and was its first president. Geologists and climate scientists have learned a lot from studying the glacier’s growth and progress.

Yet, recent satellite images show that Hubbard, which has been called the Galloping Glacier, may be slowing down. This is a sign that the Earth is getting warmer.

The park’s size means that it has a lot of different kinds of wildlife. There are 54 different kinds of mammals that people can see, such as sea otters and Steller’s sea lions.

People who watch birds might see any of 239 species, like the colorful pine grosbeak and the hermit thrush, whose song sounds very sad.

The Ghost Town at Wrangell St. Elias

Once upon a time, Wrangell was a major copper mining center. Pure copper was buried beneath the earth, and investors gained millions by digging it up. Built in the early 1900s, the Kennecott mines were closed in 1939 after only 27 years of use.

The high cost of transporting heavy copper from Alaska to the rest of the United States meant that the new town erected for the employees was abandoned by 1938.

In order to shield its owners from any accident liability, the historic mining town was nearly demolished in the 1960s. Tourists to Wrangell-St. Elias will be able to witness the unfinished demolition work for themselves.

About Wrangell St. Elias National Park

Located on the Arctic Circle’s edge, this park was shaped by the interplay of fire and ice. Lava mounds erupted from volcanoes and cooled to become rock.

Glaciers cut away any stone in their path and carried away any loose rock they encountered as they slid down the hillsides.
Wrangell is the largest national park in the United States, and it is home to nine of the sixteen highest peaks in the country.

There is only one active volcano in the park, and it hasn’t erupted since 1900. Puffs of steam rise from the ground in the winter because of the warm water below. Mount St. Elias’s summit is the second highest in all of North America and is only 760 feet short of being the highest peak on the entire continent. At the base of the mountains are vast tundra flats, while alpine woodland dominates the lower elevations.

Wrangell-St. Elias is home to moose, caribou, and mountain goats as well as brown and black bears. It is illegal to hunt in the park, so the animals who live there are free to go about their business without fear of being disturbed. Dall sheep can be identified by their massive, curving horns as they plod through the winter snow at high altitudes. One of the most common sights of this species is it slurping up minerals from cliff sides rich in those elements.

The long winters and brief summers are extreme. Winter weather might linger till late June, so travelers should dress appropriately. About 35% of the park is covered by massive glaciers, which in turn feed the park’s extensive network of rivers and streams. Because of the high silt content of glacial melt water, even narrow river banks quickly become clogged. Water meanders across the park, finding new routes to take away sediment.

The length of Bagley Icefield is 127 miles. Here, multiple glaciers converge, and the depth of the ice is estimated to be 3,000 ft. Ground ice at the start of the game

Is over four centuries old. At a spot known as Icy Bay, the glaciers meet the water. There are icebergs floating in the Gulf of Alaska that were once part of the frozen river but have since broken off into smaller pieces. Due to global warming, glaciers have melted away, revealing a sparkling bay in the interior.

Kayakers love this area because they can hire a bush plane to take them and their gear to a secluded estuary. The time and effort required to explore Wrangell Park’s pristine beauty is more than justified.

Wrangell St. Elias RV Camping

If you are looking for nearby RV camping options for Wrangell St. Elias National Park or Alaska in general, consider checking out our other post:

• Best RV Parks in Alaska
• Best RV Resorts in Alaska
• How to Conserve Water in Your RV
• How To Plan An RV Trip
• Dependable RV Water Fill Stations

Visitor Information

Fees

There is no fee to enter Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.

Visitor Centers

Copper Center Visitor Center

At mile 106.8 on the Richardson Highway, 10 miles south of Glennallen at the corner of the Glenn Highway and the Richardson Highway, you’ll find the Copper Center Visitor Center Complex. This is where you should start your trip in the park.

A visitor center, bookstore, exhibit hall, theater, restrooms, picnic tables, a picnic shelter, an amphitheater, the Ahtna Cultural Center, scenic overlooks, and short hiking trails are all part of the campus-like setting. 

Kennecott Visitor Center

The Kennecott Visitor Center is in the historic Blackburn School. There you can get information about the Kennecott Mines National Historic Landmark, which is in the middle of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve.

You can get maps, brochures, and descriptions of the trails, listen to a ranger talk about history or go on a nature walk, or plan your trip into the wilderness. There is also a small branch of the Alaska Geographic bookstore in the visitor center. 

Kennecott Mill town is 5 miles from McCarthy, and during the winter, neither cars nor shuttles can get there. During the winter, the 5 mile road from McCarthy to Kennecott is the only way to get to Kennecott.