Wrangell - St Elias National Park & Preserve
Wrangell-St. Elias is a vast national park that rises from the ocean all the way up to 18,008 ft. At 13.2 million acres, the park is the same size as Yellowstone National Park, Yosemite National Park, and Switzerland combined! Within this wild landscape, people continue to live off the land as they have done for centuries. This rugged, beautiful land is filled with opportunities for adventure.
Fees & passes
Free. No entrance fee here.
Fee Free Park: Visitors can access the Headquarters Visitor Center in Copper Center in summer (mid-May through mid-September). Gate open for day use only 9 am - 5 pm. Access to Nabesna Road and McCarthy Road open year-round, weather dependent. Summer can have heavy rains and impassable streams. Fall - Winter - Spring can have deep snow after storms.
Hours
| Headquarters Visitor Center - Copper Center, AK | Daily · Closed |
| Kennecott Visitor Center - Kennecott, AK | Daily · Closed |
| Slana Ranger Station - Slana, AK | Daily · Closed |
Headquarters Visitor Center - Copper Center, AK: hours by date. Standard hours apply on every date not listed.
| Dates | Hours |
|---|---|
| Standard hoursNow | Closed |
| May 20 to Sep 20, 2027Summer Hours | 9:00AM - 5:00PM |
When to go
July draws the most visits here and January the fewest, averaged over 2021 to 2025.
Campgrounds
| Kendesnii Campground | 10 sites | |
| This campground is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for the entire year. It is not maintained or plowed in the winter. · 10 first-come | ||
Every campground here has its own page on Campsite Atlas, with site counts, hookups, rig limits and booking windows. All of them on one page → How park camping works
Visitor centers
- Wrangell-St. Elias Visitor Center in Copper Center ↗Passport stamp
Enjoy the exhibits, view the park film, hike nature trails, shop in the bookstore, gather park & area information, conduct backcountry trip planning, and view the large 3-D interactive map display. Park rangers provide guided talks and walks daily during the summer months.
- Kennecott Visitor Center ↗Passport stamp
Located in the "Blackburn School," the Kennecott Visitor Center has exhibits and Rangers available to help with your trip planning.
- Slana Ranger Station ↗Passport stamp
Get the latest Nabesna Road conditions and information about its recreational opportunities.
- Chitina Ranger Station ↗Passport stamp
Located in downtown Chitina at mile 33 on the Edgerton Highway. Upon entering Chitina town southbound, turn left at the Chitina Hotel, drive down the gravel road 0.2 mile (300 meters), station on left. The light brown historical log cabin with mint green trim is the Chitina Ranger Station.
- Yakutat ↗Passport stamp
Yakutat is located in the southern portion of the park along the coastline in Yakutat Bay at the base of the St. Elias Mountains. Accessible only by plane or boat, this area encompasses the park's coastal region, with 155 miles of little-known coastline, where giant mountains, enormous glaciers…
Explore
Things to do
- Fishing at Wrangell-St. Elias1-8 Hours
Sport fishing in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park offers many opportunities. Arctic grayling, dolly varden, lake trout, steelhead/rainbow trout, whitefish, sockeye salmon, coho salmon, and chinook salmon are widespread.
Opens on the Park Service site - Ghost Towns6-8 Hours
Ghost towns were once thriving communities that have dwindled over the decades, often created by the search for gold, copper and other valuable minerals.
Opens on the Park Service site - Front country Hiking Trails2-4 Hours
Hiking in Wrangell-St. Elias can be spectacular and we encourage you to go, but be prepared! Most of the front country hiking trails are maintained for the first few miles and then become routes into the backcountry, where route finding and…
Opens on the Park Service site - Backpacking in Wrangell-St Elias
A backpacking trip in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve can be an exciting and rewarding experience if you are prepared for the difficulties of traveling through rugged, undeveloped land.
Opens on the Park Service site - Webcams
Webcam views from the Visitor Center at Park Headquarters in Copper Center, Kennecott Mill and Mt. Blackburn and Kennicott Glacier and the Chugach Range.
Opens on the Park Service site - Virtual Tours
Explore with geologists and their helicopter pilot around Kennicott Glacier on an interactive website virtual tour to learn how National Park Service staff monitor changes in the size of the glacier! Check out the Terrestrial LiDAR Scanning Project…
Opens on the Park Service site
Show all 10Hide
- McCarthy Road -- Drive, Hike, Bike, View Wildlife, Picnic & Scenic Vistas.
Drive, Hike, Bike, View Wildlife, Picnic & Scenic Vistas on McCarthy Road.
Opens on the Park Service site - Nabesna Road -- Drive, Hike, Bike, View Wildlife, Picnic & Scenic Vistas.
Drive, Hike, View Wildlife, Picnic & Scenic Vistas on Nabesna Road
Opens on the Park Service site - Crown of the Continent - Park Film22-28 Minutes
Soar above mountains that make their own weather and glacier-carved valleys still emerging from the Ice Age, as you return with producer John Grabowska to a place of his boyhood dreams: Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve.
Opens on the Park Service site - Flight Seeing
One of the best ways to experience the beauty and tremendous size of this park is from above! Fly past massive peaks, over jagged glaciers, and endless expanses of wild Alaska! There is a variety of air services available to visitors, including…
Opens on the Park Service site
Films
National Park Service productions, public domain.
Webcams
Kennecott Mill and Mt. Blackburn
Kennicott Glacier and the Chugach Range
Wrangell Mountains from Park HeadquartersCamera images load live from the National Park Service and partner agencies
News
- Wrangell-St. Elias Subsistence Resource Commission to Meet Oct. 9-10 in McCarthy ↗2026-09-25
The Wrangell-St. Elias National Park Subsistence Resource Commission will meet Oct. 9-10 at the Great St. Elias Station in McCarthy, with options to participate virtually or by phone.
- Two-Day Moose Hunt Extension Applies Only to FM1106 ↗2026-09-18
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve is reminding federal subsistence hunters that the additional two-day moose hunting season in Unit 11 applies only to the FM1106 hunt area.
- Federal Subsistence Moose Hunt Opened for Two Additional Days in FM1106 Hunt Area ↗2026-09-14
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve Acting Superintendent Joshua Scott, under authority delegated by the Federal Subsistence Board, is opening a two-day moose hunting season in the Unit 11 federal registration…
- Helicopter Operations to Support Stabilization Project at Erie Mine Bunkhouse ↗2026-09-14
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve will use a helicopter in mid-September to support a stabilization project at the historic Erie Mine Bunkhouse.
Map
Interactive map by the National Park Service
On the National Register nearby
- McCarthy General StoreBuilding · McCarthy · 10.6 mi
- McCarthy Power PlantBuilding · McCarthy · 10.8 mi
Public land nearby
Distances are approximate. Wilderness Atlas publishes a center point and an acreage for each area rather than a boundary, so each area is treated here as a circle of the same size and the figure is the gap to that circle.
Alaska guidebooks
We earn a small commission if you buy through these links. It does not change what we list.
Titles come from Open Library's catalog, matched by subject.
Reference
Wildlife
Full checklist: 196 birds, 47 mammalsHide
Raptors & owlsAmerican kestrel · Bald eagle · Boreal owl · Golden eagle · Great gray owl · Great horned owl · Merlin · Northern harrier · Northern hawk owl · Osprey · Peregrin falcon · Red-tailed hawk · Rough-legged hawk · Sharp-shinned hawk · Short-eared owl · Swainson's hawk · Western Screech-Owl
Waterfowl & wadersAmerican coot · American wigeon · Barrow's goldeneye · Blue-winged teal · Bufflehead · Canada goose · Common goldeneye · Common loon · Common merganser · Double-crested cormorant · Eurasian wigeon · Great blue heron · Greater scaup · Greater white-fronted goose · Green-winged teal · Harlequin duck · Horned grebe · Lesser scaup · Long-tailed duck · Northern pintail · Pacific loon · Pelagic cormorant · Red-breasted merganser · Red-necked grebe · Red-throated loon · Ring-necked duck · Sandhill crane · Snow goose · Trumpeter swan · Tundra swan · Yellow-billed loon
Shorebirds & seabirdsAleutian Tern · American golden plover · Arctic tern · Baird's sandpiper · Black oystercatcher · Black turnstone · Black-bellied plover · Bonaparte's gull · Caspian Tern · Cassin's auklet · Common murre · Common snipe · Dunlin · Glaucous gull · Glaucous-winged gull · Greater yellowlegs · Herring gull · Hudsonian godwit · Killdeer · Least sandpiper · Lesser yellowlegs · Long-billed dowitcher · Long-tailed jaeger · Mew gull · Parasitic jaeger · Pectoral sandpiper · Pomarine jaeger · Red phalarope · Red-necked phalarope · Rock sandpiper · Sanderling · Semipalmated plover · Semipalmated sandpiper · Short-billed dowitcher · Solitary sandpiper · Spotted Sandpiper · Upland sandpiper · Western sandpiper · Wilson's Snipe
Gamebirds & dovesEurasian Collared Dove · Pigeon guillemot · Rock Ptarmigan · Ruffed grouse · Sharp-tailed grouse · Spruce Grouse · White-tailed Ptarmigan · Willow ptarmigan
WoodpeckersAmerican Three-toed Woodpecker · Black-backed woodpecker · Downy woodpecker · Hairy woodpecker · Northern flicker · Red-breasted sapsucker · Yellow-bellied sapsucker
Hummingbirds & swiftsRufous hummingbird
Also on the checklistAlder flycatcher · American dipper · American pipit · American redstart · American robin · American tree sparrow · Ancient murrelet · Arctic warbler · Bank swallow · Barn swallow · Belted Kingfisher · Black scoter · Black-billed Magpie · Black-capped Chickadee · Black-legged kittiwake · Blackpoll warbler · Bohemian waxwing · Boreal Chickadee · Brant · Brewer's sparrow · Brown creeper · Canvasback · Chestnut-backed Chickadee · Chipping sparrow · Cliff Swallow · Common raven · Common redpoll · Dark-eyed junco · Fox sparrow · Gadwall · Golden-crowned kinglet · Golden-crowned sparrow · Gray jay · Gray-cheeked thrush · Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch · Gray-headed Chickadee · Gyrfalcon · Hammond's flycatcher · Hermit thrush · Hoary redpoll · Horned lark · Kittlitz's murrelet · Lapland longspur · Lincoln's sparrow · Mallard · Marbled murrelet · Mountain bluebird · Northern goshawk · Northern shoveler · Northern shrike · Northern waterthrush · Northern wheatear · Northwestern crow · Olive-sided Flycatcher · Orange-crowned warbler · Pine grosbeak · Pine siskin · Red crossbill · Red knot · Red-breasted nuthatch · Red-winged blackbird · Redhead · Rosy finch · Ruby-crowned kinglet · Rusty blackbird · Savannah sparrow · Say's phoebe · Smith's longspur · Snow bunting · Song sparrow · Sora · Steller's jay · Surf scoter · Surfbird · Swainson's thrush · Tennessee warbler · Townsend warbler · Townsend's solitaire · Tree swallow · Varied thrush · Violet-green swallow · Wandering Tattler · Warbling vireo · Western wood pewee · Whimbrel · White-crowned sparrow · White-winged crossbill · White-winged scoter · Wilson's warbler · Winter wren · Yellow warbler · Yellow-bellied flycatcher · Yellow-rumped warbler
Small mammalsAmerican beaver · Arctic ground squirrel · Brown lemming · Cinereus shrew · Collared pika · Common muskrat · Dusky shrew · Hoary marmot · Long-tailed vole · Meadow vole · Northern bog lemming · Northern flying squirrel · Northern red-backed vole · Porcupine · Pygmy shrew · Red squirrel · Singing vole · Snowshoe hare · Taiga vole · Tiny shrew · Tundra shrew · Tundra vole · Water shrew
Marine mammalsHarbor seal · Northern sea lion · Ribbon Seal · Sea otter
PredatorsAmerican black bear · American marten · Brown bear · Coyote · Ermine · Gray wolf · Lynx · Mink · Red fox · River otter · Wolverine
Hoofed mammalsBison · Dall's sheep · Moose · Mountain goat · Wood bison · barren-ground caribou · black tailed deer · woodland caribou
BatsLittle brown bat
Activities
Activity guides for this park Birdwatching in the national parks · Camping in the national parks · Canoeing and kayaking in the national parks · Fishing in the national parks · Hiking in the national parks · Rock climbing in the national parks · Wildlife watching in the national parks
All 37 activitiesHide
Weather & climate
Varies widely depending on location in park and time of year. Visit https://www.nps.gov/wrst/planyourvisit/weather.htm for detailed information.
Questions people ask
Does Wrangell - St Elias charge an entrance fee?
No. Wrangell - St Elias is free to enter.
Source: National Park Service
What are the hours at Wrangell - St Elias?
Standard hours are Closed, every day. Dated exceptions are listed under Hours.
Source: National Park Service
Can I camp in Wrangell - St Elias?
Yes. The Park Service lists 1 campground in Wrangell - St Elias: Kendesnii. 1 is first-come, first-served.
Do any Wrangell - St Elias campgrounds have hookups or showers?
No. None of the 1 listed campgrounds report showers, electric hookups, or a dump station.
Source: Campgrounds
How busy is Wrangell - St Elias?
108,840 recreation visits in 2025, number 211 of 387 units that report visitation.
Source: Most visited parks
Follow this park
- Alerts feed (RSS)
- Every active Park Service alert for this unit, one item each, rebuilt with the nightly data refresh.
- Add dates to your calendar (.ics file)
- Fee-free entrance days that apply here and each published hours exception, as all-day events.
