Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve is the largest national park in the United States, containing nine of the 16 highest peaks in the United States. Roughly the size of six Yellowstones, it's the largest national park. Here you can see and experience natural systems at work - glaciers the size of whole states grind toward pristine coasts, young rivers thick with glacial milk braid new channels, caribou herds migrate to ancient calving grounds and defend against their native predators, and volcanoes still sputter.

Wrangell-St. Elias has over 9 million acres of wilderness. For thousands of years, the Ahtna people have subsisted from the harsh resources of the Copper River Valley through traditional hunting, fishing and gathering. Miners penetrated the Wrangells near the turn of the century when the lure of gold became greater than the hazards of the Alaska bush. Testimony to their perseverance can be found at historic places such as Kennicott and current operations at Gold Hill, near Chisana. Settlers and pioneers began arriving on the coattails of the gold rush and their Alaskan homesteads still dot the landscape.

The laws establishing Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve in 1980 recognized all of these forces, natural and man-made, and provided for their continuation. Consequently, this park/preserve has a complex arrangement of land ownership and continuing uses such as subsistence, trapping, sport hunting, mining, aircraft use, and timber harvest intermingled with the thrum of wild rivers, the drama of wolves and their prey, and the nesting of eagles.

The Chugach, Wrangell, and St. Elias mountain ranges converge here in what is often referred to as the "mountain kingdom of North America." The largest unit of the National Park System and a day's drive east of Anchorage, the park/preserve includes the continent's largest assemblage of glaciers and the greatest collection of peaks above 16,000 feet. Mount St. Elias, at 18,008 feet, is the second highest peak in the United States. Adjacent to Canada's Kluane National Park, the site is characterized by remote mountains, valleys, wild rivers, and a variety of wildlife. Proclaimed the Wrangell-St. Elias National Monument Dec. 1,1978; established as a national park and preserve Dec. 2, 1980. Wilderness designated Dec. 2, 1980. Designated a World Heritage Site Oct. 24,1979.

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General Information

Acreage

National Park: 8,331,604
Federal: 8,096,008.35
Nonfederal: 235,595.65
National preserve: 4,856,720.99
Federal: 4,349,563.92
Nonfederal: 507,157.07.
Wilderness Area: 8,700.000.

Visitation

Visitation averages 25,000 recreational visits per year, with most visitors coming during summer.

Address

Headquarters:

Mile 105.5 Old Richardson Highway
PO Box 439
Copper Center, AK 99573

Telephone

Headquarters: (907) 822-5234
Yakutat Ranger Station: (907) 784-3295

Operating Hours

Winter: 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Summer: 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., daily.

Recommended Clothing

Weather can vary to extremes in relatively short time periods. It is best to expect (and prepare for) almost any potential with a variety of layerable clothing (polypropelene, wool or pile), raingear and extra food. Summer snow storms occur at elevations of 4,500 feet and above. Pack for any season with clothing that can be layered, ready to peel off or add as conditions dictate.

Seasons

The prime backpacking season is from June 20 to August 20, though snow depths don't stick to a schedule. Consider hiking at lower elevations or be prepared for slogging through snow in this "shoulder" season. Hunting season, primarily in the preserve, is from August 10 - September 20. The main mountaineering season is mid-March through early June. Wildflowers and mosquitoes peak in June and July. Consider bringing a head net. June and July are also the warmest months, but it can snow any month of the year in the high country. Drizzling rains are common throughout the summer and, in general, rainfall increases in August and September, especially along the coast. The main wildfire season is May through July in drier years.

Transportation

The park can be reached from Anchorage via the Glenn Highway (Alaska 1). At Glennallen, the Glenn Highway meets the Richardson Highway, which skirts the park's western boundary en route to Valdez, a coastal city served by the state ferry system. The Tok Cutoff, coming south from the Alaska Highway, borders the northwestern corner of the park.

From these highways, two unpaved roads penetrate the park. The Chitina-McCarthy Road extends 61 miles from Chitina to the Kennicott River, just west of McCarthy. The road follows the old Copper River and Northwest Railroad route. High clearance, two-wheel drive vehicles usually can make the trip in summer. The road is generally not maintained in winter.

The northern portion of the park can be reached via the Nabesna Road. From Slana on the Tok Cutoff, it extends 45 miles to Nabesna, an inactive privately owned mining area. Check at the Slana Ranger Station at the start of the Nabesna Road for the latest road conditions.

Fees & Rates

No admission or user fees for non-commercial users.

Golden Eagle Passport

The Golden Eagle Passport is an entrance pass to any national park, monument, historical site, recreation area, and national wildlife refuge that charges an entrance fee. It is a great convenience for those who plan on visiting several different areas that charge special fees. It is valid for one year from the purchase date. A Golden Eagle Passport may be purchased for $50 at any National Park Service entrance fee area or by mail. To order by mail, send check or money order (no cash, please) to:

National Park Service
1100 Ohio Drive, SW
Room 138
Washington, DC 20242
Attention: Golden Eagle Passport

Where entry is by private vehicle, the Golden Eagle Passport will admit the passholder as well as any passengers. Where entry by private vehicle is not possible, the pass will admit the passholder, spouse, children and parents.

The Golden Eagle Passport will not reduce use fees, such as those for camping, swimming, parking, boat launching, or cave tours. It covers entrance fees only.

Golden Age Passport

The Golden Age Passport is a lifetime entrance pass for those United States residents 62 years or older. These may be purchased at any National Park Service entrance fee area for a one-time processing fee of $10. The Golden Age Passport cannot be purchased by mail or telephone. Proof of age and citizenship or permanent residence must be shown at the time of purchase.

The Golden Age Passport will admit the passholder and any passengers in a private vehicle. When entrance is not via private vehicle, the pass will admit the passholder as well as children, spouse, and parents.

The Golden Age Pass grants a 50 percent discount to the holder on any federal use fees charged for things such as camping, swimming, parking, boat launching, or tours. It does not, however, reduce the price of special recreation permit fees or fees for concessions.

Golden Access Passport

The Golden Access Passport is a free entrance pass to any national park, monument, historic site, recreation area, and national wildlife refuge for those who are blind or permanently disabled. The Golden Access passport may be obtained at any National Park Service entrance fee area. Proof of a medically determined disability and eligibility for receiving benefits under federal law is necessary at purchase.

The Golden Access Passport will admit the passholder and any passengers in a private vehicle. Where entrance is not by vehicle, the pass will admit the passholder, spouse, children and parents.

The Golden Access Passport also provides a 50 percent discount on any federal use fees charged for services and facilities. It does not cover special recreation permit fees or fees charged for concessions.

All passes described above are non-transferable.

Facilities & Opportunities

Visitor Center/Exhibits:

There is a visitor center at park headquarters, mile 105.5 on Old Richardson Highway. Smaller exhibits and informational displays are located at the Yakutat, Slana and Chitina ranger stations.

Lodging & Camping Facilities

There are no federal facilities in the park. Several private lodges and bed and breakfast establishments are located along the McCarthy and Nabesna roads, in McCarthy and Kennicott, and in the highway communities. The Bureau of Land Management and the state of Alaska run campgrounds along the Richardson Highway, Tok Cutoff and Edgerton Highway. You may camp anywhere in the park, but be aware that there is private land, particularly along the Nabesna and McCarthy road corridors.

Food & Supplies

Full service groceries are available in Anchorage and Valdez. Most food and supplies are available in Glennallen and Tok. Limited supplies are available in Chitina, McCarthy, and Slana.

Recommended Activities & Park Use

This is a park for wilderness-oriented activities. Besides sightseeing, major activities include backpacking, hiking, camping, hunting, fishing, mountaineering, river running, sea kayaking in protected bays, and cross-country skiing.

Hike into these mountains, float the rivers, ski across the glaciers, fly over the area, and see geology in the making. Amid the splendid isolation comes a feeling of discovery, a feeling that you might be the first person to see such sights. Two roads lead into the park, one from the west, ending at McCarthy, and one from the north, ending at Nabesna. These are the main visitor jumping off points for hiking, fishing, hunting, and other recreation.

Special Events & Programs

Check with park headquarters for planned activities in the park and neighboring communities.

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History

Early History

Ahtna Athabaskan natives traveled the river corridors, foothills and passes of the Wrangell Mountains for several hundred years prior to the arrival of Europeans in the area. They lived in semi-permanent camps, leaving for weeks at a time to hunt and to gather berries, birch wood, and other resources. Trade routes with other native peoples were well established. Copper, found near the modern-day town of McCarthy, was used for tools and for trade with other native groups. Rumors of the copper deposits, as well as the lure of fur animals, attracted Russians into the Copper River Basin for an extended period from the 1760s to 1867. Most encountered considerable hostility from the Ahtna, who fought the Russian occupation.

Lieutenant Henry T. Allen of the U.S. Army made the first recorded geographic observations of the western Wrangell Mountains in 1885. In March of that year, Allen and three companions landed at the mouth of the Copper River and began one of the most remarkable journeys in the history of Alaskan exploration. Mapping as they went, the party traversed the Copper River around the west end of the Wrangell Mountains, crossed the Alaska Range through Suslota Pass and then proceeded down the Tetlin, Tanana, Koyukuk and Yukon rivers to the Bering Sea, just in time to catch the last boat to leave the Alaska coast before freeze-up in early September. Allen's party was the first scientific expedition to cross the Alaska Range from the Gulf of Alaska to the Yukon River.

Before going north over the Alaska Range Divide into the Tanana River Valley, Allen explored the upper Copper River Basin, the Chitina River Valley and the western Wrangell Mountains. He named the Chitina and the Chitistone Rivers (both names incorporate the Athabaskan word "chiti," meaning "copper"). He also established friendly relations with Chief Nicolai and his Copper River group of Ahtna Indians. He measured the heights and named many of the high Wrangell peaks, including Mount Blackburn, Mount Drum and Mount Sanford.

After Allen's exploration, several scientific parties explored the Wrangell Mountains area. Lt. Frederick Schwatka of the U.S. Army and geologist C.W. Hayes of the U.S. Geological Survey teamed up and reached the Chitina River Valley by way of the White River and Skolai Pass in 1891.

Spurred by these early explorations and the influx of prospectors during the Klondike Gold Rush in Canada, the U.S. Geological Survey and the War Department increased their efforts to make topographic and geologic maps of the country. In 1898, U.S. Geological Survey geologist F.C. Schrader accompanied a U.S. Army survey, led by Capt. William Abercrombie, up the Copper River and into the Wrangell Mountains. That same year, U.S. Geological Survey geologist W.C. Mendenhall joined U.S. Army Capt. Edwin Glenn's expedition from Cook Inlet up the Matanuska River into the Copper River Basin. Alfred Brooks and William Peters of the U.S. Geological Survey and Oscar Rohn and A.H. McNeer of the War Department conducted separate expeditions to the Nabesna and Chisana areas on the north side of the Wrangell Mountains in 1899.

These journeys eventually led to the discovery of minerals in the Wrangell Mountains. The first gold discovery in the northern Wrangell Mountains was on Jacksina Creek near the headwaters of the Nabesna River in 1899. That same year while exploring the upper Chitina Valley, Oscar Rohn found rich pieces of chalcocite ore in the moraine of Kennicott Glacier and pointed out similarities to the rich copper deposits of Michigan's Lake Superior district. Rohn also named the Chitistone limestone and the Nikolai greenstone, geologic formations that proved to be important hosts for mineral deposits. A year later, prospectors traced chalcocite to deposits on Bonanza Ridge, which eventually became the incredibly rich Bonanza Mine, one of five mines that supplied copper and silver ore to the historic Kennecott Mill.

The Kennecott mines did not go into full production until 1911, when the completion of a 196-mile long railroad from Cordova, near the mouth of the Copper River, to the Kennicott mining town allowed transport of the rich copper concentrate. In 27 years of operation, more than a billion pounds of ore, valued at $100-$300 million, was hauled on the railroad.

The mine and the railroad were abandoned in 1938, when the rich ore was exhausted. The railroad bed now provides the base for most of the Chitina-McCarthy Road along the south flank of the Wrangell Mountains in the heart of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve.

Gold discoveries in the Nabesna area led to construction of the Nabesna Road, which was built in the early 1930s and used to haul gold ore from the now-closed Nabesna Mine. Today, the Nabesna Road provides vehicle access along the north side of the Wrangell Mountains into Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve.

After the Kennecott mines closed, several efforts were made to revive mining interest in the area. Ernest Gruening, director of U.S. Territories and later Alaska's governor and a U.S. senator, was the first to recommend the area as a national park or monument. After a flight over the area in 1938, he wrote a memorandum to the secretary of the Interior:

"...the region is superlative in its scenic beauty and measures up fully and beyond the requirements for its establishment as a National Monument and later as a National Park. It is my personal view that from the standpoint of scenic beauty, it is the finest region in Alaska. I have traveled through Switzerland extensively, have flown over the Andes, and am familiar with the Valley of Mexico and with other parts of Alaska. It is my unqualified view that this is the finest scenery that I have ever been privileged to see."

Passage of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act in 1971 authorized the federal government to withdraw and study federal lands in Alaska for future uses. In 1978, Present Jimmy Carter declared the area a national monument because of its scientific and cultural significance. When Congress passed the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act in 1980, the Wrangell Mountains became part of the 13.2-million-acre Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, the largest U.S. National Park.

Wrangell-St. Elias is one of four contiguous conservation units spanning 24 million acres that have been recognized by the United Nations as an International World Heritage Site. The original 1978 designation included Wrangell-St. Elias and Kluane National Park in the Yukon Territory of Canada. In 1993, both Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve and a new park, the Alsek-Tatshenshini Provincial Park in British Columbia were added to that designation. Altogether, it is the largest internationally protected area in the world.

(excerpted from Richter, Donald, et.al. Guide to the Volcanoes of the Western Wrangell Mountains, USGS Bulletin No. 2017. Government Printing Office, 1995.)

Kennecott Mine Facts

The Kennecott Mines Company, which established an office and camp five miles north of modern-day McCarthy, took its name from the Kennicott Glacier, but misspelled it with a second "e". The name has been spelled variously through the years but present usage favors the original spelling honoring Robert Kennicott.

Some other interesting facts:

• The copper in this area was originally found by Ahtna natives.
• Copper was rediscovered by prospectors who thought the green mountainside was pasture for their horses.
• The mine operated from 1911 to 1938.
• During operation, the workforce averaged around 500.
• In 1924, daily pay was as follows: $5.50-$5.75/day for electricians and machinists; $5.25/day for miners; and $4.25/day for laborers.
• The dollar value of copper produced at Kennicott between 1911 and 1938 is greater than the value of all the gold discovered in the Yukon Gold Rush.
• Kennicott produced more dollars in copper than any single placer gold district or lode gold entity in Alaska.
• The Kennicott mine is responsible for more than 90 percent of the copper ever produced in Alaska.
• The ore from some veins consisted of more than 85 percent pure copper, but the 28-year average was 13%.
• Kennicott was a bustling company town with one movie theater, tennis courts, a gymnasium and other amenities.

Important Statistics:

Total ore mined: 4,626,000 tons
Total pure copper smelted: 591,535 tons
Total pure silver smelted: 9,000,000 ounces
Net profit: $100,000,000

Land Ownership - Private Property

Within the legislated boundary of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, lie almost one million acres of non-federal lands. Native corporations own 770,000 acres of land within the boundaries. The remainder is private, state or University of Alaska lands. If you have a question about whether there is an easement across any of these private properties, please check with the National Park Service.

Land status maps are available at all park ranger stations. It is the hiker's responsibility to know the land ownership along intended hiking routes. Hiking or camping on private land is trespassing. Places where numerous private parcels are interspersed with public lands include: McCarthy, Kennicott, May Creek, Dan Creek, Chisana and along the McCarthy, Nabesna and Kotsina Roads.

A World Heritage Site

Wrangell-St. Elias has been recognized by the United Nations as a World Heritage Site. It shares this designation with three contiguous areas including Kluane National Park in the Yukon Territory, the Tatshenshini-Alsek Wilderness Provincial Park in British Columbia, and Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. Altogether more than 25 million acres are protected, making it the largest internationally protected wilderness in the world.

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Reservation Information

Reservations are recommended for most visitor services from commercial vendors.

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