# Wrangell–St. Elias — the largest national park in the United States, six Yellowstones of mountains and ice Canonical: https://sockmonkey.com/places/wrangell-st-elias-national-park (this is a plain-text copy of that page) Source: https://sockmonkey.com/places/wrangell-st-elias-national-park Publisher: SockMonkey.com (https://sockmonkey.com) Part of: The Field Guide - https://sockmonkey.com/places/ Cite as: SockMonkey.com - sockmonkey.com Last reviewed: 13 November 2026 Part of The US National Parks - **Where:** South-central Alaska, on the Canadian border - **Coordinates:** 62.02° N, 145.36° W (visitor centre, Copper Center) - **Size:** 13.2 million acres, the largest US national park - **Highest:** Mount St. Elias, 18,008 ft, second highest in the US - **Glaciers:** About 35% of the park - **Active volcano:** Mount Wrangell, 14,163 ft - **Roads in:** Two, both gravel - **Protected:** National monument 1978 - **Advisory:** United States, (no State Department level) ## The short answer Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve covers 13.2 million acres of south-central Alaska, from the Copper River to the Canadian border and down to the Gulf of Alaska, making it the largest unit of the US National Park System. The Wrangell, St. Elias and Chugach mountains and the eastern end of the Alaska Range meet inside it. Its visitor centre is in Copper Center, about 200 miles north-east of Anchorage, and only two roads, the McCarthy Road and the Nabesna Road, both gravel, lead into it. With Canada’s Kluane National Park, Glacier Bay and British Columbia’s Tatshenshini-Alsek Park, it forms one of the largest World Heritage Sites on Earth. ## Why it's worth knowing Mountains straight out of the sea. The St. Elias Mountains rise abruptly from the Gulf of Alaska and thrust north towards the Wrangells. Mount St. Elias, 18,008 feet, is the second-highest peak in the United States, and the first piece of the Alaskan mainland Vitus Bering saw, on July 16, 1741, the feast of Saint Elias. The Wrangell Mountains to the north are volcanic, and Mount Wrangell, 14,163 feet, is still active, one of the largest active volcanoes in the world by volume. Its last reported eruption was in the 1900s, but on cold mornings steam still rises from vents around its summit. The big peaks, Blackburn, Sanford, Drum and Wrangell, can all be seen from the highways near the park. Rivers of ice. The park holds the largest glacial system in the United States. The Bagley Icefield, the largest subpolar icefield in North America, is 127 miles long and up to 3,000 feet thick, and feeds four great glaciers. The Nabesna Glacier, more than 53 miles long, is the longest interior valley glacier in the world. The Hubbard Glacier, North America’s largest tidewater glacier, flows 76 miles from Mount Logan in Canada to the sea near Yakutat, where its face is six miles wide and stands 350 feet above the water. Follow almost any braided river in the park to its source, and it ends at a glacier. The big glacier. On the coast between Icy Bay and Yakutat Bay, Malaspina Glacier, which the Tlingit call Sít’ Tlein, “big glacier”, spills out of the St. Elias Mountains and spreads across the lowland like an icy delta, the largest piedmont glacier in North America. It is thinning fast, faster than the average Alaskan glacier, and scientists are measuring how much it could add to the sea. ## The field notes ### A duke on Mount St. Elias The first party to reach the top of Mount St. Elias, in 1897, was led by an Italian nobleman, Luigi Amedeo di Savoia-Aosta, the Duke of the Abruzzi. His expedition crossed the United States to Seattle, sailed north by way of Sitka and Juneau, and reached Yakutat on June 22. One of its members, Vittorio Sella, kept a diary of the whole adventure; among other things he recorded a large fish caught by the Duke that was still alive after 40 minutes on the ship’s deck. ### Four peoples and their copper Four Alaska Native groups have ties to these lands: the Ahtna and Upper Tanana Athabascans in the interior, and the Eyak and Tlingit on the coast of the Gulf of Alaska. The Ahtna travelled the river corridors, foothills and passes of the Wrangell Mountains for centuries, living in semi-permanent camps along the Copper River and leaving for weeks to hunt and gather. Copper from near what is now McCarthy was used for their tools and traded with other peoples, long before mining companies came for it in the early 1900s. In the park’s preserve lands, rural people still hunt, fish and trap under the law that created the park and preserve. ### The road on the old railway The McCarthy Road runs for about 60 miles along the bed of the old Copper River and Northwestern Railway, built to carry copper ore to the sea. It is now a gravel road with potholes, washboard, sharp rocks and one-lane bridges, and it takes about three hours each way. The Nabesna Road, in the north of the park, is the other way in. Many car-rental firms in Anchorage, Fairbanks and Valdez do not allow their cars on either road. **A relic from Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve** A tree growing on the ice of Sít’ Tlein. At the edges of the Malaspina Glacier the ice carries so much glacial silt that plants and then trees take hold on it. In places whole forests stand on top of frozen ice cliffs, with lakes lapping at the ice in front. A tree up there lives its whole life on a glacier. It can grow to its full size, until the ice beneath it melts away and it topples over the edge. ## Getting there How to get there. Anchorage and Fairbanks are the usual airports for Alaska. The Wrangell–St. Elias Visitor Center is on the Richardson Highway at Copper Center, 10 miles south of Glennallen, about 200 miles north-east of Anchorage and 250 miles south of Fairbanks. From Anchorage the Glenn Highway, the Richardson Highway and the Edgerton Highway lead to the McCarthy Road; the drive to Kennecott takes seven to eight hours. Both park roads are gravel, owned by the state, and usually passable for ordinary cars in summer, though a high-clearance vehicle is recommended beyond mile 29 of the Nabesna Road. Air taxis and flightseeing services fly over and into the park, and there are airstrips at McCarthy, May Creek and Chisana. When to go. The park is open all year; the gravel roads are at their most passable in summer. Safety. The State Department’s travel advisories cover other countries, so none applies here. Road conditions change quickly; the Copper Center and Chitina visitor centres and Alaska’s road information service carry current conditions. ## Common questions #### What is the largest national park in the United States? Wrangell–St. Elias, in Alaska. Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve covers 13.2 million acres, about the size of six Yellowstones, and is the largest unit of the US National Park System. #### How high is Mount St. Elias? 18,008 feet, the second-highest peak in the United States. Mount St. Elias, in Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve, was first climbed in 1897 by an expedition led by the Duke of the Abruzzi. #### Is there an active volcano in Wrangell-St. Elias? Yes, Mount Wrangell, 14,163 feet. It is the only active volcano in the Wrangell Mountains of Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve, and steam often rises from vents near its summit. #### How do you get to Wrangell-St. Elias National Park? By one of two gravel roads, or by air. The McCarthy Road and the Nabesna Road lead into Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve; the visitor centre is at Copper Center, about 200 miles north-east of Anchorage. #### What is the Malaspina Glacier? A glacier larger than Rhode Island. Malaspina Glacier, called Sít’ Tlein in Tlingit, spreads out from the St. Elias Mountains in Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve, and trees grow on its silt-covered edges. #### How many glaciers are in Wrangell-St. Elias? Enough to cover about 35 per cent of the park. Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve has the largest glacial system in the United States, including the Nabesna, Hubbard and Malaspina glaciers and the Bagley Icefield. #### Who was Wrangell? A Russian naval officer and governor of Russian Alaska. The Wrangell Mountains in Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve are named after Baron Ferdinand von Wrangel, who governed the Russian colonies in Alaska from 1829 to 1835. What to pack: the Ice & high latitudes kit ## Related places Denalialso in The US National Parks · about 260 km away Gates of the Arcticalso in The US National Parks · about 740 km away Lake Clark National Park and Preservealso in The US National Parks · about 520 km away Katmai National Park and Preservealso in The US National Parks · about 720 km away Kenai Fjords National Parkalso in The US National Parks · about 300 km away ## Sources and notes Written and checked by SockMonkey.com · last reviewed 13 November 2026 - [The National Park Service](https://www.nps.gov/wrst/)