Wrangell St. Elias National Park

Wrangell-St Elias National Park and Preserve abuts Canada's Kluane National Park. With its neighbors to the south, Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve and Tatshenshini-Alsek Park in British Columbia, this 13.2-million-acre wilderness is a World Heritage Site and the world's largest internationally protected area.

This is North America's mountain kingdom. Here the Wrangell, St. Elias, and Chugach mountain ranges converge. The park and preserve contains North America's largest assemblage of glaciers and its greatest collection of peaks more than 16,000 feet in elevation. One glacier, the Malaspina, is larger than the state of Rhode Island. Mount St. Elias, at 18,008 feet, is the second highest peak in the United States.

The area abounds in opportunities for wilderness backpacking, lake fishing, car camping, river running, cross-country skiing, and mountain climbing. In both stature and numbers, DaII sheep populations of the WrangelIs are considered the world's finest. Here's our favorite activities in and around the park.

Access

Park headquarters in Copper Center is 210 miles east of Anchorage by road.

Road Guides: Two primitive roads enter the park

• Anchorage to McCarthy
• Nabesna Road
  

Air Taxi: Air taxis provide access to more than 200 bush airstrips throughout the park and preserve.

• Wrangell Mountain Air: Air taxi service, as well as scheduled flights between Chitina and McCarthy.
• Copper Valley Air Service: Air taxi service, as well as scheduled flights between Anchorage, Glennallen and McCarthy.

For Information, stop at the Wrangell St. Elias National Park Visitor Center. Or contact Superintendent, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, PO. Box 439, Copper Center, AK 99573-0439; 907-822-5234; www.nps.gov/wrst