Where is Wrangell-St. Elias National Park?
Even though it is America’s largest national park, most people have never even heard of it
Wrangell-St. Elias is the largest national park in the United States encompassing 13.2 million acres of the most true, pristine wilderness remaining in the world. It lies in southeastern Alaska and borders Kluane National Park in the Yukon Territory of Canada. The town of McCarthy, the staging area for most activities in the park, is located 307 miles east of Anchorage. Aside from a single 60 mile long dirt road from Chitina to McCarthy (or charter flight), nearly all of the park is inaccessible to vehicles and can only be reached by plane or on foot.
While it doesn’t get nearly as much press as Denali, Wrangell-St. Elias actually has more of that classic remote “Alaska feel” to it. Four major mountain ranges, Wrangell, St. Elias, Chugach and Alaska, and over 3,300 glaciers cover much of this massive national park. It also sees far fewer tourist numbers at approximately 74,500 (2019) visitors compared to over 600,000 (2019) for Denali.
Illustrated map of Mountain Statistics in Wrangell-St. Elias Prints available (email me for details)
Not only does this park contain the most heavily glaciated part of Alaska but it is also has more of the biggest mountains than anywhere in the United States. Wrangell-St. Elias hosts 9 of the 16 tallest peaks in the United States, 16 of the 20 tallest in Alaska and 6 of the 20 tallest in North America.
Additional Fun Facts
SIZE
At 13.2 million acres it is the largest park in the United States
Six times the size of Yellowstone National Park (2.2 million acres)
Same size as Yosemite National Park, Yellowstone National Park and Switzerland combined
Glaciers cover more than 25 percent of the park (over 5000 square miles).
The massive 75+mile long (128 km) Nabesna Glacier is the longest valley glacier in North America and the longest interior valley glacier in the world.
The Malaspina Glacier is the largest piedmont glacier in the world at over 3100 square miles. It’s roughly triple the size of the state of Rhode Island (1,045 square miles)!
The Hubbard Glacier is the largest tidewater glacier in North America that lies just off the coast of Yakutat at the northernmost tip of Disenchantment Bay. It is one of the most actively calving glaciers in North America whose face is up to 400 feet tall.
The monstrous Bagley Icefield covers much of the southern section of the park and is the largest subpolar icefield in North America. What the heck is an icefield? Click here to find out.
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
The historic Kennecott Mill Building is a main attraction in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.
Kennecott Copper Mining Town
This historic copper mining town is a National Historic Landmark that offers a rare view into the copper mining history and the rise of “big business” that defined the early 20th century in the United States. The buildings remain largely in their natural, weather-aged state (i.e. not remodeled relics). This makes Kennecott a truly unique and impressive place to visit. No historic mining site on such a grand scale like this exists anywhere else in the world.
It sits next to the massive Kennicott Glacier approximately 4.5 miles north of the town of McCarthy.
Tours of the historic town and iconic Mill Building are offered through St. Elias Alpine Guides (late May thru early September).
In 2011 the National Park Service published a detailed survey of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. The Natural Resource Condition Assessment of the park provides a treasure of detailed facts, figures and statistics that are a fascinating read. Although slightly dated since it was published in 2001 nearly all of the information is still relevant today.