Wrangell-St. Elias is a vast national park that rises from the ocean all the way up to 18,008 ft. At 13.2 million acres, the park is the same size as Yellowstone National Park, Yosemite National Park, and Switzerland combined! Within this wild landscape, people continue to live off the land as they have done for centuries. This rugged, beautiful land is filled with opportunities for adventure.
The national park and preserve public lands are open year-round, with limited access in winter. Visitor centers are open in summer but closed in Fall-Winter-Spring. Call (907) 822-7250 or email wrst_info@nps.gov for park information.
Updated on 05/07/2024
This is the view out a window on the top floor of the General Store in Kennecott, looking to the north. On the right, the historic Kennecott mill building climbs fourteen stories up the mountainside above the railroad trestle, leaching plant and power plant. One hundred years ago, the mine was in full swing and this area was a hive of activity. On the left side of this view, behind the tailing piles, lies the Kennicott Glacier, and above it all, on the distant skyline, looms the blindingly-white, snow-covered Mt. Blackburn -- at 16,390 feet the third-highest peak in the park.
This view is from the old Dairy Barn in Kennecott, looking south to the Chugach Mountains. The mounds in the foreground are the rock-covered terminus of the Kennicott Glacier. Beyond the glacier and its meltwater lake lie the town of McCarthy and the vast expanse of the Chitina river valley. The scene changes throughout the day depending on weather and lighting: watch for dramatic summer cumulus clouds building over the mountains, rain squalls moving across the valley, windstorms blowing glacial loess off the river bars, and sunlight glinting off bare ice faces on the glacier.
This is the view from our Visitor Center at Park Headquarters in Copper Center, looking east across the Copper River Valley to the Wrangell Mountains. From this vantage point, Mt. Drum (12,010 ft) and Mt. Sanford (16,237 ft) are visible. Watch the colors in this scene change throughout the seasons: the brilliant yellows and golds of the aspens in the fall, followed by stark white snows and pink mountain alpenglow during the cold days of winter, and then the greening of the whole landscape as the days warm and lengthen in the springtime.
The national park and preserve public lands are open year-round, with limited access in winter. Visitor centers are open in summer but closed in Fall-Winter-Spring. Call (907) 822-7250 or email wrst_info@nps.gov for park information.
Updated on 05/07/2024