August 3-14, 2024.
Wrangell-St. Elias is a colossal national park. It encompasses 13.2 million acres, extends from sea level to over 18,000′ and about a quarter of its land is covered in ice. It is remote, there are only a few roads leading into the park and it is the 8th least visited national park in the U.S. Naturally, we were itching to go see it.
I’d been researching things to do in Wrangell St. Elias long before we reached Alaska. I even reached out to the backcountry ranger via email and phone in order to help with my trip planning (highly recommended). We visited each of the three ranger stations and drove up both of the main access roads. What I’m saying is, we barely scratched the surface on our visit. I’ll share some highlights and trip planning tips here.
Ranger stations
This is definitely a place that requires both advanced planning and up-to-the-minute conditions information in order to have a fun and safe trip. The park rangers offer a wealth of information. Plan ahead by reading the park website, calling/emailing the ranger stations and visiting them in person when you arrive.
Copper Center: This is the most accessible ranger station; in fact, we visited it three times! Each time, the rangers were very helpful regarding planning our trip. You can watch the park movie here, which I highly recommend. We picked up a Junior Ranger booklet on our first visit and returned it when we were on our way out of the park. If you’re backpacking, you can borrow a bear canister for your trip! We took advantage of this, since we didn’t pack one in the van.
Chitina: This is a ranger station that’s located on McCarthy Rd. There are some historical displays here, too.
Slana: Located on the north end of the park, this small ranger station is the best place to get up-to-date information about conditions before you attempt to drive the road. There are a few spots that regularly wash out, so know before you go!
The Yakutat and coastal areas of the park are extremely remote and only accessible by boat or plane. We did not visit this area, but you can call the park to get more information.
Kennicott
We began our explorations of Wrangell-St. Elias by driving up the notorious McCarthy Road. We downloaded the McCarthy Road audio tour to listen to along the way. We used the cues from the audio tour to guide us to nice rest stops to break up the drive. It was a beautiful day. The Kuskulana Bridge was probably my favorite one.
The road dead-ends at the Kennicott River. The only way* across is via footbridge. There are a few campgrounds and parking lots located near the bridge that charge various amounts of money for you to leave your vehicle while you continue across the bridge. We picked the campground right on the edge of the raging river and paid for a night to camp. Then, we hopped on our bikes and rode across the bridge.
We used a combination of the road and rough bike path to cover the 5 or so miles to Kennecott. We shared the road with a surprising number of vehicles: ATVs, personal vehicles, shuttle vans and trucks. McCarthy and Kennecott residents pay an annual fee to bring their vehicles across a car bridge that’s not open to visitors. So, there’s actually quite a bit of traffic on this road.
Once in town, there are a few things to do. You can check out the Kennecott Visitor Center, which has lots of information and ranger programs. You can take a tour of the historic mine/mill operation, which we did. We found this enjoyable and informative and would highly recommend it! Your budget is the only limit when it comes to all the other tours offered in this area. We skipped the rest of these, opting to spend the remainder of our visit on our own. Once we spent a day in Kennecott, we had a much greater sense of what to expect.
The next day, we walked across the bridge with our daypacks and took the shuttle into Kennecott (definitely find the posted schedule and figure out how this works to make the most of your visit). This took care of the 5 mile “approach” to town. We spent the day hiking up to Bonanza Mine and back, 9.4 miles round trip and 4000′ of climbing. The mine ruins at the top were cool to look at, but I was more interested in the incredible wildflowers and layers upon layers of mountain views. It was well worth the effort.
We also did a backpacking trip in this end of the park, which is described here: Donoho Basin backpacking (coming soon).
McCarthy
If you want any semblance of services in this area, McCarthy is where it’s at. Plan on eating at the Potato at least once (we visited twice). There is also, at the time of this writing, a bar, a hotel and a few B&B’s. There is a nice little historical museum and at least one art gallery. If you’re lucky, you’ll be able to catch an event or class at the Wrangell Mountains Center. We just happened to be there for their annual storytelling event, which was standing room only and SO much fun! They also host activities that often combine science and art and they are a central community hub. For such a tiny place, there’s a lot going on in McCarthy.
Nabesna Road
On our way out of mainland Alaska, we made one last dip into Wrangell- St. Elias National Park. We turned down the Nabesna Road, which also has an audio tour, and popped into the Slana Ranger Station. There, we learned that there were a few tricky creek crossings on the road ahead that could be a problem for a heavy vehicle like ours. I asked how far they were from the trailhead we planned to visit, and they were within biking distance. With that information, we continued on the road until we came to the water crossing.
Fortunately, there was a huge gravel area with plenty of parking just before the water streaming across the road. Several vehicles were already parked there. We chose a spot and camped there for the night. The next morning, we prepared for yet another bike-and-hike adventure.
Chilly temperatures meant we waited to start riding until about 10:45 am. We walked our bikes across the frigid water, then rode 5 miles up the road to Skookum Volcano Trailhead. The ranger had recommended this hike and adamantly recommended against doing the “possible loop” indicated on the map. We took her advice.
The trail was lovely and well-graded, as if we had taken a wrong turn out of Alaska and into some magical fairyland. But the fairy tale quickly ended at the first of many creek crossings. With no poles and with only one pair of sandals between us (when will we ever learn?) we took some time figuring out how to get to the other side. Fortunately all of the other crossings were very straightforward. However, the trail climbed steeply uphill toward the tundra, gaining elevation at a rapidly increasing pitch as we walked. We stopped frequently to try and catch our breath. I used these opportune breaks to also try and catch views of wildflowers. The plants of the tundra continued to fascinate me with their beauty and tenacity.
It was clear at the end of the trail why NOT to try and make a loop. We returned the way we came. Then, we hopped back on our bikes and rode back to the van. That night, we decided to camp at Kendesnii Campground, a free, first-come, first-served spot on Nabensa Road. We slid into the last open spot.
Planning tips
Wrangell-St. Elias is big, remote and unforgiving. There are limited to no services and they are only accessible for a few months a year. Your trip can be sidelined by changing weather, rugged gravel roads and the whims of some of North America’s biggest glaciers.
That being said, it’s an absolutely incredible place to visit. In order to do so, it’s important to plan ahead and be flexible! This is true for all of Alaska, but especially for a place like this.
- Transportation. Decide how you’ll travel through and within the park. Do you need to book a bush plane? Sign up for guided tours? You probably won’t be able to rent a car in Anchorage and drive in. If you do drive a personal vehicle in, you’ll need plenty of gas and a spare tire plus tools and knowledge to change one.
- Lodging. The cheapest and most flexible option is camping. You can camp at one of the developed sites at the end of the McCarthy road or find a dispersed site on your way in. But this is only available if you’re driving yourself in. There is a lodge in Kennecott and several places to stay in McCarthy. These spots tend to book up in advance, so if you need specific dates, reserve ahead of time.
- Clothes. Summers in Alaska can be hot and sunny, cold and snowy and everything in between. Be prepared with plenty of layers and protection from sun, wind and precipitation.
- Hiking gear. If you plan on hiking or backpacking in the park, you’ll need the Ten Essentials at minimum, plus bear spray and crampons or microspikes (if you plan on glacier hiking). You can also rent crampons from the St. Elias Alpine Guides. There’s no REI at the end of the road, so you’re out of luck if you forget something critical.
- Local knowledge. You can do all the planning in the world in the comfort of your living room, but what will really make your trip come alive is the information you glean from talking to people at the park. Drop by any ranger station armed with some patience (there will probably be a line!) and questions. Talk to the folks running the food trucks or working at the museum. Talk to other visitors who have already spent time in the park. I learned so much useful stuff from the people who live and breathe in the area, and most are happy to help!
If at all possible, plan a few extra days to spend in Wrangell-St. Elias in anticipation of hitting some kind of obstacle during your trip. If you can’t do that, then at least show up with some flexibility in mind. Make a list of three things you’d like to do and let the conditions dictate how many of those things make sense. Or, scrap your list and go with the flow. You’ve made it to one of the wildest places on the continent that few people will ever get to see. Have an amazing time, make lasting memories and soak it all in.
