Wrangell – St Elias National Park

Most Recent Visit

June 2016

When to Go

While the park is technically open year-round, you are going to visiting from mid-May through mid-September unless you can snowmobile in yourself. During the summer months, you can hire a van to get into the park (the roads are extremely rough and not approved by most rental car companies) and stay in the Kennicott/McCarthy area where many services are available during these months. The Visitor Centers and Ranger Stations are also only open during the summer.

How to Get Here

You have two primary options for airports, Anchorage (~5-hour drive) and Fairbanks (~6-hour drive) from which you can then drive to the Chitina, Alaska area which is where most visitors are going to start their Wrangell journey. As mentioned above, you shouldn’t drive the Kennicott/McCarthy Road yourself as it is extremely rough and rental car companies typically do not allow you to drive it. Fortunately, there is a shuttle van service which runs one time per day, Kennicott Shuttle. We recommend catching the shuttle at the Chitina Airport, which has ample overnight parking, which will cost you $149 per person in 2025 round trip. While this is fairly expensive for a ~3-hour shuttle each way, it is much cheaper than damaging your rental car which you are not allowed to drive to start with. If you want to go in and leave the same day (with ~5.5 hours in the Kennicott/McCarthy area), the round-trip price goes down to $119 per person in 2025. You could also technically fly into McCarthy from either Anchorage or Chitina, but this was too expensive for us to consider.

Quick note: the way that most people “visit” Wrangell each year is via cruise ship as many cruises can sail in close to Hubbard Glacier, via Disenchantment Bay, which is one of the largest glaciers in the world and is located on the very southeastern corner of the park. You won’t be stepping on land there, but you can at least see something in the park with little effort.

Trip Length

We spent two nights in Wrangell on our trip which allowed for a day to travel in via the shuttle and then a couple days of tours and exploring before heading out on a late afternoon shuttle. For the average person, 1-2 nights in the Kennicott/McCarthy area likely makes the most sense which allows you to explore town and go on a guided tour as well as some unguided hiking if desired.

Where to Stay

Being extremely remote does limit the places you can stay in the park. We chose to stay at the Kennicott River Lodge & Cabins for two nights. They offer lodge rooms, cabins, and much cheaper camping sites if you have camping gear with you. This is a good location near the Kennicott Glacier and a 25-minute walk to the McCarthy area. There is also a shuttle that operates in the summer which picks you up near the lodge and takes you to McCarthy if you don’t want to walk. This is also where the shuttle from Chitina area is going to drop you off. There are some other lodge and bed and breakfast options in the area as well, but we think Kennicott River Lodge & Cabins offers the best value.

What to Do

We have broken the park up into two areas below. We are going to start the trip in the main area of the park – Kennicott / McCarthy – and then head to the north to the Nabesna area.

Kennicott / McCarthy Area

There are several things to do in this area that we would recommend. First, let’s talk about the lay of the land. If you are staying at the Kennicott River Lodge & Cabins, you are about a 25-minute walk away from the town of McCarthy. The town of Kennicott is ~4.5 miles further down the road and while you could technically walk there, most people take the local Copper Town Shuttle which can pick you up in McCarthy or at the footbridge near the Kennicott River Lodge & Cabins. Most of the activities in the area, besides just exploring the town of McCarthy, are located in Kennicott, so you will need to take the shuttle. If you sign up for a day trip, such as the Glacier Hike below, it comes with transportation on a shuttle included!

McCarthy was featured in a Discovery Channel show called ‘Edge of Alaska’ which helped this historic town gain a bit of attention. There is a historical museum that was not open when we visited. Since we’ve been there, it looks like a few new restaurants have opened. We split our visits between ‘The Potato” and “The Golden Saloon“.

Half-Day Glacier Hike

The Root Glacier is the most accessible glacier in the park. That being said, it can be dangerous, and we would not recommend going on it unless you’re with an experienced guide who knows the current conditions. We took this guided hike on our trip and had a blast. It is run by St. Elias Alpine Guides and includes your transportation from McCarthy to Kennicott which is a major plus. In the summer months (July-August 15th) there are two tour options, 9am and 1pm, with only the 9am being available outside of that period between late-May and mid-September. The tour will last 5-6 hours with some of that time being used to get your gear (crampons/hiking poles) on/ready and hike to Root Glacier. Your guide will teach you the history of the glacier as well as point out unique crevasses, ice formations and let you snag a drink from the running glacier water. If you know you love glacier hiking, they also offer a full day guided glacier hike which lasts 8-9 hours. The half day tour was $115 per person in 2025 while the full day tour was $155 per person. There is also ice climbing options if you’re really looking to get your heart pumping.

Tip: Ensure you have pants that are not too long or loose at the ankle. Amanda learned this the hard way as her crampon got caught in her pant leg and she rolled her ankle on the glacier. Luckily the guide gave her some tips about how to tighten up her boot laces and she was able to walk back with the rest of the group. You’ll also want sturdy hiking shoes/boots and a snack/water.

Kennicott Mill Town Tour

Also run by St. Elias Alpine Guides, this is another great option and runs at least 3 times a day (9:30am, 1:30pm, and 3:30pm) with a 4th option (11:30am) between July 1st and August 15th. We also took this tour which gives you a glimpse into the town of Kennicott for about 2 hours and what it was like to live and work there before it was abandoned in 1938. If you only book this tour, it does not come with provided transportation, but we would recommend doing the 9am half day glacier hike followed by the 3:30pm Mill Town Tour on the same day since the glacier hike does provide transportation in and out. The Mill Town Tour costs $34 per person in 2025. You can also book separate transportation from McCarthy if you’re not up for the walk between towns with Copper Town Shuttle or the Blackburn Heritage Shuttle.

This tour requires walking through narrow spaces and up/down old wooden stairs. Amanda’s parents did this in 2024 (in their 70’s) and really enjoyed it so as long as you don’t have any mobility challenges you should be okay. They provide hard hats and again you’ll want close-toed sturdy shoes. You’ll learn a lot about the history of this National Historic Landmark and the work that was done to stabalize it and preserve for future generations to enjoy.

Unguided Hiking

We did not do this but would consider hiking Bonanza Mine trail on our own the next time we are in the park. While you can take a guided hike to Bonanza Mine, it is extremely expensive at over $200 per person. This is not easy hike though at 8.3 miles and over 3,900 feet, so would certainly be an investment of time to accomplish.

Perhaps a better use of time would be walking around both Kennicott and McCarthy to see all of the historical sites.

Nabesna Road

For full disclosure, we have not been to this part of the park as it is another rough road into the northern boundary of the park at mile marker 60 of the Glenn Highway in Slana, Alaska. We are not aware of any shuttles that take you in here (not to say they don’t exist) and we did not have a 4WD vehicle, which is recommended. If you are able to get into this area though, there are some short trails as well as several longer trails in the area that should have some good views. For a full list, visit the official Wrangell park site. If you do make your way into this part of the National Park, you will almost certainly be leaving any semblance of the crowds behind as very few people make their way onto the Nabesna Road.