Wrangell-St. Elias National Park

🧭

Slow rescue

Top hazard

💵

Entrance fee

⛰️

13.2M acres

Largest NPS unit

🏔️

18,008 ft

Mt. St. Elias

🛣️

59 mi gravel

McCarthy Road

📷

None

Live cameras

⚠️Remoteness & SafetySelf-rescue required▾

🧭 NPS's own words: "this is a truly vast and remote area without the usual safeguards one expects in a more developed National Park Service area." Opportunities for rescue and evacuation are slim and response time can be slow — visitors "must be prepared to self-rescue and to be self-sufficient." Cell service is largely absent, and NPS emphasizes preparation for extreme wilderness travel and weather-related delays. NPS safety info ↗

Quick Stats

Established1980

Mt. Wrangell (active volcano)14,163 ft

Kennecott Mines NHLDesignated 1986

Cash AcceptedNowhere in-park

🚗McCarthy Road & KennecottFee-free park▾

🛣️ NPS quote: "Wrangell-St. Elias is a fee free park!" There is no entry gate on either park road — Nabesna Road (north) or McCarthy Road (center). The 59-mile gravel McCarthy Road runs from the Edgerton Highway near Chitina to the Kennicott River, where a pedestrian-only footbridge (no vehicle bridge) crosses to McCarthy — most rental car companies prohibit driving this road. Kennecott is ~5 miles beyond McCarthy, reached by shuttle, bike, or foot. NPS McCarthy Road info ↗

Entry Fees

Entrance FeeNone

Nabesna Road40+ mi, unpaved, washouts common

🧊Root Glacier & KennecottHistoric mine + glacier▾

Root Glaciercontext▾

AccessA 1.5-mile walk from Kennecott onto the glacier (4 mi round trip)

Guided toursPrivate operators — St. Elias Alpine Guides and Kennicott Wilderness Guides — offer glacier hikes and ice climbing; not NPS-operated

Kennecott Mines NHLcontext▾

DesignatedNational Historic Landmark, June 23, 1986

Spelling note"Kennecott" (mine/mill town, NHL) vs. "Kennicott" (glacier, river) — a documented historic misspelling that stuck

🏕CampingNo NPS campground at HQ▾

⛺ NPS is direct: "there are no places to camp inside Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve" near Copper Center — nearest options are BLM, Alaska State Parks, Chugach National Forest, or Ahtna Native Corporation lands (non-NPS). Along McCarthy Road/Kennecott, two primitive NPS sites do exist: Jumbo Creek Campground (1.4 mi north of Kennecott, hike-in only, bear boxes) and Donoho Basin Group Camping (3–6 mi north, groups of 8–12, registration required). Private campgrounds also operate along McCarthy Road. NPS camping info ↗

📍Landmarks5 stops▾

Key Locations5 stops▾

Mount St. Elias18,008 ft — 2nd-highest peak in the US and in Canada18,008 ft

Mount Wrangell14,163 ft active volcano, steam plumes visible, "no signs of erupting any time soon"14,163 ft

KennecottHistoric copper mill town, National Historic Landmark

McCarthySmall private town, 0.5 mi past the footbridge

Nabesna RoadNorth park road, built for the historic Nabesna Gold Mine (1925–1945)

Park Contact Information

📞 Phone: (907) 822-5234 (HQ) · (907) 822-7250 (Copper Center VC) · Mailing Address: PO Box 439, Copper Center, AK 99573 · Official NPS contact page ↗