Copper Center Parks & Trails

The muse­ums are housed in his­tor­i­cal cab­ins at the Cop­per Cen­ter Lodge. They con­tain ear­ly Russ­ian reli­gious arti­cles, Athabas­can bas­kets, tele­graph equip­ment, min­er­al dis­plays, cop­per and gold min­ing mem­o­ra­bil­ia and trap­ping arti­cles from the ear­ly-day Cop­per Val­ley. A short walk takes you to the Stam­ped­ers Cemetery.

A pleas­ant trail sys­tem mean­ders through the for­est around the cam­pus of the Wrangel-St. Elias Vis­i­tor Cen­ter near Cop­per Cen­ter, offer­ing an intro­duc­tion to the local ecosys­tem as well as extra­or­di­nary views of three vol­ca­noes and the Cop­per Riv­er Valley.

Fol­low in the foot­steps of the orig­i­nal prospec­tors and native Alaskan inhab­i­tants by going for a hike or moun­tain bike ride along the Kluti­na Riv­er. This trail cov­ers the 23 miles between Cop­per Cen­ter and Kluti­na Lake, which was part of the orig­i­nal prospect­ing trail from Valdez to the Cop­per Riv­er. The riv­er is fed by the mas­sive glac­i­ers of the Chugach Moun­tains to the south, and the beau­ti­ful turquoise col­or of the water indi­cates the…  ...more