Wrangell-St. Elias National Park is the largest park in the United States. It is home to the amazing mountain ranges on the continent and is also a part of the largest swathe of the protected wilderness in the world. This park will be a feast for the lovers of wilderness. The measurement of the park will be around 13.2 million acres which is six times bigger than the Yellowstone National Park and 25% bigger than Switzerland. This park contains more wilderness at over nine million acres of wilderness protections. Just because the park size is massive, it features different climate zones, large broad river basins, temperate rainforest, high alpine tundra, sub-arctic desert, and ice fields.
Where is the Wrangell-St Elias National Park?
The park lies in Alaska that connects the Southeast region of the state with the rest of Alaska. This national park contains three mountain ranges that include the Wrangell, St. Elias, and Chugach ranges. The park stretches on the west from the Copper river including the eastern drainages of the Copper River watershed towards the international border with Canada. The borders of the southern edge are covered with the Bagley Icefall Gulf of Alaska and it meets the Mentasta mountains on the North. Overall, it is combined with many other parks and protected areas in the Canada and US. Wrangell-St. Elias National Park is the second-largest U.N. World heritage site.
How Do I Get To Wrangell St. Elias National Park?
Wrangell St. Elias National is reachable by road unlike other regions of Alaska. You should almost drive for about 110 miles of road and 13 million acres of land or you will have to take to the river or sky to go deep into the park. Here you have many places from where you can access the park. Most of the visitors would start from Anchorage which is the most popular starting point and they drive east through the Copper River Basin along with the Glenn Highway and the Matanuska Valley which takes four to ten hours depending on where you are going in the park. If you drive towards the Alcan Highway, you will see the Southern view as you enter Alaska. It starts from the Fairbanks heading South on the Richardson Highway and you will go through the Alaska Range, through the beautiful Summit and Paxson lake area.
You can get an overview of the towering volcanic mountains and the Copper River from the visitors center in the Copper Center that is located at the South of the town of Glennallen. If you move further into the Southern end of the park that takes you to the McCarthy Road to the towns of McCarthy and Kennicott, you will reach the site where there is the purest copper found on the earth.
Activities to do in Wrangell St. Elias National Park
- Hike on a Glacier
- Drive the McCarthy & Nabesna Roads
- Tour the historic Kennecott Mill Town
- Stay in a Public Use Cabin
- View the Aurora Borealis
- Check Out the Birds
- Relax in a Cabin at the Toe of a 25-mile Glacier
- Fly-out Base Camp
- Get Deep Into the wild on a Multi-Day River Trip
- Sportfishing and hunting
- Horseback riding
- Whitewater rafting and kayaking
- Mountaineering and ice climbing
- Wildlife viewing and flightseeing.
During winter visitors will come to cross-country ski, snowshoe, and snowmobile.