Wrangell - St. Elias National Park

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park Overview

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park (Digital Vision/Getty)

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park

Established: 1980
Acreage: 13,175,901
Average Yearly Visitors: 40,000
Location: Southeast Alaska, east of Anchorage

Contact Details
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve
Mile 106.8 Richardson Highway
P.O. Box 439
Copper Center, AK 99573
Phone: 907-822-5234

For a challenging and rewarding trek with Pangaea Adventures, hike over the Root Glacier with your crampons. Camp with views of ice falls and towering peaks. It's a great escape without having to hire a bush plane. This moderately strenuous backpacking trip includes camping in the rolling tundra at the base of Donoho Peak. This section of the tour incorporates basic wilderness skills and is an introduction to off-trail, Alaskan-style hiking and glacier trekking.
Somewhat strenuous at times, but with great views of the Chitina river basin, Mount Logan, the Chugach Range, and Mount George, this Wrangell-St. Elias backpacking trip led by Alaska Alpine Treks visits some of the park's remotest country. Both grizzly and black bears roam here, and you may spot Dall sheep, mountain goats, wolves, and a variety of birds.
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve has no entrance stations or gates and never actually closes. However, winter arrives early in interior Alaska, and by September 15, available services and facilities are few. The park administration building in Copper Center is open weekdays year-round.
No permit is required for recreational snow machines to operate anywhere in the park when there is adequate snow cover (approximately 12 inches) and frozen ground.

By Travel Expert: Karen Kefauver

Roughly 25 percent larger than Switzerland, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve is the largest and wildest national park in America, with unprecedented opportunities for camping and backpacking in the front- or backcountry.
Some of the world’s best bush pilots fly in the Wrangell-St. Elias. Hire Wrangell Mountain Air in McCarthy to drop you off at Iceberg Lake in the Chugach Range for wilderness camping and hiking among dramatic glaciers and mountains.
Find hot showers and fresh water at the Glacier View Campground, mile 59 of the McCarthy Road, and enjoy the scenic views and camaraderie with other campers.
The prime time of year for visiting Wrangell-St. Elias is from June 20 to August 20, but don't think that there won't be any backcountry hardship. Wrangell-St. Elias is a mountain wilderness unlike any other. It is almost entirely roadless, there are no maintained trails in the park, and access is only by unpaved road, boat, or plane.

By Travel Expert: Jeremy Pataky

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