Reviews of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve (Park)

Ed Rock

You won't be disappointed. The view from the highway at spectacular and mount Drum, Stanford & Mount Wrangell are as beautiful as any mountains in Alaska. Spectacular

David Sanders

The trip through Wrangell- St. Elias was beautiful! A lot of opportunities to take photos or just stop and enjoy the view. Another "MUST STOP" for anyone who visits Alaska!

Maarten Hofman

This is a huge national park, and this description is only of my short trip on the Nabisna road leading into the park. The rangers are very friendly and helpful, and provide wifi so you can download the audio tour. The mountains are always visible from a distance. I would love to come back here and see more of it, as we didn't make it to McCarthy.

Candise Roark

Friendly staff and beautiful lands!

Enoch Leisure

Beautiful

Frank Hollibaugh

A huge national park in Alaska. No fee for entrance. Great campsites but bring in water.

Jason Nesslage

Heaven on earth! Spectacular views in every direction! Home to the most sought after fish in the water, the Sockeye Salmon!

Omez Mesina

Should be on everyone's bucket list. The hike to Root Glacier is phenomenal. You will be walking on millions of years of History and still in the making.

Amandeep Godara

Wrangell–St. Elias National Monument was initially designated on December 1, 1978, by President Jimmy Carter using the Antiquities Act, pending final legislation to resolve the allotment of public lands in Alaska. Establishment as a national park and preserve followed the passage of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act in 1980. The park, which is bigger than the country Switzerland, has long, extremely cold winters and a short summer season. It supports a variety of large mammals in an environment defined by relative land elevation. Plate tectonics are responsible for the uplift of the mountain ranges that cross the park. The park's extreme high point is Mount St. Elias at 18,008 feet (5,489 m), the second tallest mountain in both the United States and Canada. The park has been shaped by the competing forces of volcanism and glaciation. Mount Wrangell is an active volcano, one of several volcanoes in the western Wrangell Mountains. In the St. Elias Range Mount Churchill has erupted explosively within the past 2,000 years. The park's glacial features include Malaspina Glacier, the largest piedmont glacier in North America, Hubbard Glacier, the longest tidewater glacier in Alaska, and Nabesna Glacier, the world's longest valley glacier. The Bagley Icefield covers much of the park's interior, which includes 60% of the permanently ice-covered terrain in Alaska. At the center of the park, the boomtown of Kennecott exploited one of the world's richest deposits of copper from 1903 to 1938, exposed by and in part incorporated into Kennicott Glacier. The mine buildings and mills, now abandoned, compose a National Historic Landmark district.

Kathleen Mejia

Absolutely stunning!!

Adam Stastny

Wonderful place! Hugh!

tapan chaddarwala

A remote wilderness! Very few people visit this park and you have the entire area for yourself. A must do is the root glacier hike!

Dave Vandenberg

McCarthy is pure Alaska, full of young hikers and campers. A day trip is difficult due to the distance (60 miles) from slighter bigger Chitina. Kennicott is the big draw,however. Amazing how they built all that, and how much money it generated. Plan to stay overnight.

Michelle ohmmassagetherapy

Visitor center was closed both times I went past but it was still mid-april. Did manage to find a great place to pull out and car camp overnight. Beautiful views and gorgeous scenery all around.

Tina Bassett

Awesome view

Kari Barnard

If you like geology, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and the Copper River Valley are the ultimate wild and spectacular country. The Copper Valley alone, is the size of West Virginia. Volcanoes, glaciers, wind and water erosion, mass wasting, it's all there. Glacial Lake Ahtna created the lake bottom sediments through which the mighty Copper has worked its way down to gravel beds in classic braided formation. Fed by numerous glacier tributaries, the Copper carries the fourth highest siltload in the world. You need to spend some time here, from Nebesna at the northern end, and around to Copper Center, to Chitina, to Historic McCarthy and to the Kennicott copper mines. Glorious! Take a digital camera with several Smart Cards... And an extra spare tire.

Katie Wales

Ever changing beauty

Devin Reiss

Love my backyard

bc Yould

The peaks of the Wrangell mountains are the best Alaska has to offer. I've spent my life traveling the world and the Wrangells always call to me.

Richard Raymer

Very beautiful this time of year

sam nylund

Awesome place to hike

Leevai B

If you're lucky, you get Orcas swim closeby..

Luke Votel

It was an amazing visit. I like pie.

Freda Hiland ulen

Nice

Stacie Miller

Most beautiful place ever

Alana Bennett

Beautiful wilderness

lynda wacht

Is there anyplace more spectacular?

Clayton Ellsworth

Beautiful and so much to do. A great experience for anyone

Ivan Mast

Great view of Mount Sanford and a few others

Eric Tompkins

Beautiful in the summer and the winter time

Igor Soulrabbit

Nowords

Zena Begin

Loved this visitor center, one of the best on my trip through Canada

James Beck

Get as close as you can to hear the ice crack

Marion Austin

Just beautiful.

Sunseeker

Breathtakingly beautiful and unspoiled place!

Seth Helton

Good views lived between McCarthy and Chitna

Deborah Mulcahy

Beautiful campground. Small but full hook ups and the only bad thing is there were sites reserved but no one showed up. They should do away with reservations and just do first come first serve.

aj krupa

Worth the drive! Beautiful. Largest national park in the US.

Plumeria Bodhisattva

An RV Park with the view of the Wrangell Mountains. This park is unattended but we felt safe. Not many sites so be sure to book before arriving. Full hook ups and fee is comparable.

K Maize

Beautiful park with great facilities. Great place to visit while you're in the area.

Erin Loffler

Just lovely

Bill Wieboldt

It's Hubbard glacier. Happened to be there on a beautiful day. Hearing thunder as the ice cracked. Talk about climate change.......

Shanita Mala Kumar

We came very close and the scenery of the coast was really cool getting there. It was exciting to look through binoculars to see the glacier. Its amazing that was around for so many years. Though apparently it reduced in size drastically. Im still glad i got the chance to see it in my lifetime. Its cool to think the glacier is blue because so much preesure caused the air to escape. If your thinking about a quiet place to travel visit alaska.

Miranda Olsen

Gorgeous park!!! So much to explore. We did the McCarthy Kennicott side. We'll have to come back to explore the rest!

John James

Hubbard Glacier - AWESOME!!!!!

Akshay Bhat

The park is well worth the visit. Easy access to walk on glaciers (you can explore without a guide if you have crampons) or do ice climbing or choose your own hiking/backpacking trip. Amazing views all around and unique landscape (rock covered glaciers, surreal interplay between mountains and glaciers). If you want to do backpacking, much more planning is needed compared to Denali because of lack of facilities and easily available information regarding the park. To get here you either need to fly in or take a shuttle (both expensive) or drive ~3 hours on unpaved road (doable even with a compact rental car, just drive slowly). If you are in the area, potato is a amazing restaurant to check out.

James C

Beautiful, however, the could use a little work.

Ghelmez Loredana

It was great and the best crew ever!@❤

Debbie Reiter

Beautiful scenery, but could add more communication as to what is available or not at McCarty and Kennecott

Daniel Pessoa

Beautiful park! Went on the Kennicot copper mine tour with St Elias alpine guides. I highly recommend it. The root glacier hike is fantastic too!

Jessica Carter

Breathtaking area

Kane Yee

Nice wilderness

Camilia Karayyim

See it before we loose it totally—-global warming

Bridgette Wilson

The full grasp of global warming and its effects are undeniable, once you see it for yourself

Hsin WANG

No hiking possibility along the way until to the bottom. Can not enjoy this park if you do not camp for several days inside. Not an easily accessible park if you stay outside.

Shannon Tryon

Breathtaking beauty!

Jason Ogasian

A great remote, wild park with lots of human history thrown in.

Jenette Blatchford

Beautiful, but every place in Alaska is beautiful.

Judy Dodson

Service ok, food same as always

Tim Weinberg

We were in the park for our tour of the Hubbard glacier. Such a great place and anyone who has a chance to visit, should. After the glaicer the weather was clear enough to see the second highest mountain in North America , Wrangell St Elias mountain

Christiane Craig

The veiw is completely worth it!

Austin Bunton

Another new favorite

leslie veenstra

We didn't go in to this park and I wonder how many ever do... It's immense - bigger than some entire countries! Beautiful to drive alongside for many, many miles.

James Hare

Nabesna Road and McCarthy Road are both excellent choices.

Kerbe Bruh

Beautiful place I go there alot

Archana Rao

Less known national park and a must visit for great views and total wilderness!

Gary Shuhart

So picturesque, need I say more

Mike Humphries

Beautiful scenery.

Linda Ross

Food okay. Not the best wait staff.

Cindy Meden

Road in is in horrible shape. Two flat tires!!

Shulamit Romano Wichman

Amazing experiance cruising near the glacier

Timothy Jones

It's was awesome. I'd give it six stars if I could. We went to the McCarthy area and did a glacier hike. What a beautiful part of the world. Everyone needs to go.

Janie Zajicek

Can't say enough. Awesome!

Kevin Moran

It was spectacular! Mount Sanford, Wrangell & Drum are all still snow capped and radiant in the sun.

Jerome Jordan

Once in lifetime trip

Jan Van den Broeck

What an amazing place!! Biggest NP in the US and not busy at all. The old mining town gives it an umatched flair of history and culture!! The wildernesses is captivating unlike any other!

Samuel Salwei

There is a lifetime of wilderness exploration here. We witnessed a 1/2 mile glacial calving on a remote lake, it was in the top 3 Natural events I have witnessed in my life. We also saw 6 grizzly bears while camping.

Peter S

Saw the glacier from a cruise ship. Absolutely fantastic.

V B

If you're looking for a rugged, unmaintained park then look no further. This place is as out there as it gets and it is beautiful.

JD Alex

Beautiful, dangerous & great sockeye salmon to catch

Nancy Piner

Glacial mountains, remote, secluded campground on Nabesna road

Laurin Cavender

Great

McCarthy River Tours & Outfitters

Largest national park on the country! The best remote rivers in Alaska!

Patti Thomason

Beautiful!

Phil Castleman

Really enjoyed the views. I wished we had more time to spend there.

ElPaco Taco

I'm lucky enough to live in the area. The National Park is a Place that pulled me in so hard that I knew within 2 days of coming up here this is where I'll live and hopefully die. This a Destination for those that want to find that one thing, that elusive secret. I won't tell you exactly where to find it but it's in the Park, down at the end of Nabesna Road. 3 miles farther up is the mine itself out there up above where the miners stayed, that's where you can start looking.

P Coletta

impossible to get to. we booked the only shuttle..Kennicott shuttle..we arrived early. at pick up spot. 1 hr later..they R a NO SHOW .and we paid ahead..and are stranded..soooo disappointed

Sarah Nacke

Neat historical artifacts but it is also a small hotel and houses lodging for the owner. The hours open are sketchy.

Denis Allen

The Wrangells are beautiful mountains. Flown in and around them in my own plane.

Tracy Ulrich

Amazing and peaceful. Love it

Eileen Osborn

Visitors Center and trails were the best, wish the Interpretive Center was open.

Doug Porteous

Great place

Patty Anderson

Just passed thru, but beautiful eye candy.

Cynthia Feigert

Who doesn't love a state park in the beautiful state of Alaska! I was lucky to visit there!

Acupuncture Chi

Best dipnetting places.

Diane Kaminski

Nature! Also Kennecott Mines

dennis smith

One of a kind.

Mark Sova

Stunningly spectacular

Patricia Ryan

Beautiful !

Paul Waldie

An enormous park which is absolutely magnificent. I just saw one small piece of it bit was awestruck.

Vraj Patel

Great views, the glacier was nice. We took a boat to get closer to the glacier it was worth going all the way out there.

Chris stephenson

This is some of the roughest country still accesible by car in the world. Watching the northern lights from a butte illuminate the mountains was incredible. I saw a grizzly bear and a couple black bears and tons of eagles and moose here.

Margaret Burke

An amazing bit of history sitting atop a beautiful mountain overlooking a glacier. What could be more Alaskan?

LinSue Lee

Beautiful and Majestic

Gordon Rosser

Beautiful vista's

Gary Schade

AN AREA OF OUTSTANDING NATURAL BEAUTY! One of the BEST PARKS IN NORTH AMERICA Wonderful drive. ***** Use Extreme Caution if you use the TOK CUTOFF. The road is awful and can seriously damage your vehicles. I recommend you "go around" Tok to Delta then south, enjoy Kenny Lake! A place of wonderful memories!

pavan kumar

Awesome place

B'Elanna Rhodehamel

Very beautiful place! 10/10 would recommend

Dennis Camp

It was a perfect day, sunny and warm. This is a place to put on your bucket list.

J. E. Smith

Natural unspoiled GOD made Beauty!

Mary DiLoreto

Amazing views - glaciers, mountains, braided rivers. We camped off an air strip at Peavine and hiked from other air strips in the park. Absolutely mind blowing!

Steven Johnson

Experience a rugged nation park.

Ryan Bish

Nothing else compares to the expansiveness of the Park.

Louis Manzi

Wangell St. Elias National park is such a beautiful place and there is pleaty of excited things to do and see if you're willing to do some exploring. I highly recommend exploring Root Glacier. Ensure you have plenty of time for travel and exploration. @offgridphotography

Ted Falk

Fricken beautiful. Did a 2-hour airplane tour departing from McCarthy. Would highly recommend

James Wells

If you have the time during your drive to pull over and stop here, then take advantage of the beautiful scenery. On a clear day the view is breathtaking. There are no services available here, but it is good to take pictures and stretch your legs.

Rebecca fox

Beautiful family vacation spot. Unplug from everything and just be with your kids or husband. Girls weekend or guys week. Nothing like here brings a family closer together. And Salmon to top it off!

Zbigniew Kostrzewski

Be prepared to manage the visit, trails and attractions by your self. Unlike the lower 48 parks, this one is completely self guided! And it's fun!

Angelo Damico

Excellent wildlife cruise

Mary Schrage

Rugged beauty and you will find yourself in the middle of the great wilderness of Alaska.

jérémy fabian

Awesome park not too busy.

Han Oh

Incredible park with never before seen features and sights!

Christian Spencer

Very pretty and much of it untouched but, if you can’t access a majority of it besides on foot it it all might just as well be a void. The drive into the middle of it to the copper mining area is the best part of it for a normal visitor, on a road. Drive in and bring your spare tires!

Kenny Pillow

Slow moving glacier occasionally breaking off a small piece that thunderously splashes down in the water below. Beautiful and breathtaking.

Benjamin Kennedy

Hard to reach, but well worth the effort. Kennicott is very interesting itself, though the real draw is definitely backpacking out in the park proper. Amazing landscapes, and one of the few places in the world where you will find rock glaciers.

Tonette Peterson

Amazing

Geart Bakker

This is an amazing park, not only because of the sheer size of it but also because of it's pristine environment. This place is a prime example of what we can do to help nature remain the same without human encroachment. Beautiful scenery and amazing vistas in a park greater than some of the continental states.

Patrick Broomell

The playground of the angels!

Monica Ivory

We only visited the visitor center got there too late to do a review. On our list the next Alaska visit

Arlene Acuna

Beautiful and wild...but you need a car and several days....

Jim Parsons

Unbelievable Park but not amenable to exploring

Sam Parrott

Beautiful

Lonzo Kennedy.

Great experience going into McCarthy and the Kennecut mine area.

Deborah Shook

I live in the middle of it!

Justus Freiherr von Mirbach

Great views

Patty Ford

This park is a little off the beaten path, but worth the trip! We signed up for the glacier hike on the recommendation of friends who had done, but were a little hesitant about hiking on the ice. Turned out to be our second favorite location/activity of a two-week trip! The hop flight over and back was phenomenal, and the glacier hike was so much fun! What an amazing world you experience out on the massive glacier! Well worth the effort and time to get there and experience something that so few people will ever get to do!

Evelyn Buchert

Beautiful!! The mountains are spectacular, the people were knowledgable and friendly, I found more to my advantage than expected!

Jake Volkers

Helpful staff.

Jon Sund

What a great place to visit. While it takes a commitment of time to travel down the various roads into the park I found the adventures extremely interesting. If you want to see the real Alaska this is the place to go for an adventure.

John Smith

Beautiful scenery here if you decide to make the drive.

Pamela Tapert

Huge,beautiful visitor center,watch the movie its amazing

Roy Seher

The park is VAST. The size of Switzerland or nine Yellowstones. We stayed in Kennecott and did the eight mile guided hike to the Glacier. The experience is a bit challenging but well worth it. We stayed at the Kennecott Glacier Lodge which is wonderful. In the morning we did a tour of the old Kennecott mining operation. Time interestingly spent. There is so much else in the park so check the Website.

Harold Hobson

Real nice scenery great for photography and selfies

Julie Masters

Gorgeous!

Pete Donahoo

Absolutely beautiful drive, one of the best in Alaska! Be sure to leave extra time for driving both ways as the road is very rough and at times underwater. Be sure to take several breaks and remember it's not so much the destination as it is the journey!

jose contreras

Nice place

Thunder Kid737

The only word I have - amazing.

Susan Praud

Beautiful!

Roger Peppercorn

Such beauty and peaceful surroundings

Elizabeth Angasan

Absolutely stunning!

Rob Christiansen

Really cool mountains here

Donald Swavely

Beautiful, scenic, wonderful!

Rick Ambrose

Really fun and beautiful area to see a variety of animals, that you might not see otherwise

amabile uno

Gorgeous

Angus Macfarlane

So amazing to see. Such a wonderful place.

Paul Tyler,D.C.

One of 3 rock glaciers on earth. Plus a 4 story cooper mine. The inventiveness of God and man all in one place. A must see.

Melissa Brown

Loved it! So beautiful and remote.

10 10

America's largest national park only has 30,000 visitors annually compared to the other more popular Alaskan park: Denali which gets flooded with 500,000 per year. If you want to avoid the throngs of tourists many of whom are foreign and cruise ship people and go off the beaten path, this is the ideal place. I did a five day backpacking trip on the Kennicott Glacier with St. Elias Alpine Guides and highly recommend their services.