Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve

Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve is the largest national park in the United States, covering about 13.2 million acres in southeastern and south-central Alaska. Established by federal law in 1980, it contains nine of the 16 highest peaks in the country, enormous glaciers and icefields, and the historic Kennecott copper mines. It is part of a transboundary World Heritage Site that, together with neighboring parks in Alaska and Canada, forms the largest international protected wilderness in the world [1][2].

Size and Setting

With roughly 13.2 million acres, Wrangell–St. Elias is the largest national park in the United States, about six times the size of Yellowstone National Park, and it also holds the largest wilderness area in the National Wilderness Preservation System. More than 9 million acres are designated Wilderness [1][2]. The park brings together the Wrangell, Chugach and St. Elias mountain ranges, and the surrounding landscape includes river valleys, boreal forest, tundra and glaciated coast.

Mountains and Volcanoes

Mount St. Elias, at 18,008 feet, is the second-highest peak in the United States, and the park contains nine of the 16 highest peaks in the country [1]. Mount Wrangell, at 14,163 feet, is among the largest active volcanoes in North America, and steam vents can be seen near its summit [1]. The area sits in one of the most geologically active mountain-building zones in the world, where the Pacific Plate meets North America.

Glaciers and Icefields

The Bagley Icefield, the largest subpolar icefield in North America, feeds glaciers including the Tana, Miles, Hubbard and Guyot. The Malaspina Glacier is larger than the state of Rhode Island and is the largest non-polar piedmont glacier in North America. Hubbard Glacier is among the largest and most active tidewater glaciers on the continent, and the Nabesna Glacier, about 53 miles long, is considered the world’s longest interior valley glacier [1].

World Heritage Site

The park is recognized as a World Heritage Site jointly with Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve and, in Canada, Kluane National Park and Reserve and Tatshenshini-Alsek Provincial Park. Together they form the largest international protected wilderness area in the world [1][2].

Wildlife

The park supports Dall sheep, mountain goats, caribou, moose and bears. Salmon and other fish live in its rivers and lakes, trumpeter swans nest in the Copper River drainage, which is also a major migratory bird flyway, and sea lions and harbor seals use the coast [1].

Human History

The Ahtna people have lived in the Copper River Valley for thousands of years, relying on hunting, fishing and gathering [2]. Miners entered the Wrangell Mountains around the turn of the twentieth century during the gold rush, and settlers and homesteaders followed; their homesteads remain on the landscape. Athabascan communities such as Copper Center, Chitina, Gulkana and Chistochina grew during the mining era, and Yakutat is a traditional Tlingit fishing village [1][2]. Gold mining continues at Gold Hill near Chisana, and gold was also mined in the Nabesna area [1][2].

Kennecott Mines

Copper was mined near McCarthy from 1911 to 1938 and shipped by rail to Cordova. The Kennecott mine buildings are now a National Historic Landmark, preserved as an example of early twentieth-century industrial mining in a remote setting [1][2].

Management and Land Use

The laws establishing the park and preserve were enacted in 1980 [2]. The unit has a complex mix of land ownership and continuing uses, including subsistence, sport hunting, mining, aircraft use and timber harvest, which reflects the compromises of the Alaska conservation legislation of that period [2].

Visiting

Because of its size, much of the park is reached by small aircraft or on foot, while a few roads reach its edges. The park’s headquarters is located on the Richardson Highway near Copper Center [2]. Visitors should plan for remote conditions and self-reliance, since services within the park are limited.

Geology and Landscape Change

The park lies where the Pacific Plate collides with North America, a process that has built some of the highest coastal mountains on Earth. Glaciers continue to carve the valleys and deposit sediment, and the combination of volcanic activity, glaciation and tectonic uplift makes the area an important place for scientific research. The Bagley Icefield and the glaciers it feeds are monitored as indicators of change in the region’s climate [1].

Rivers and Ecosystems

The Copper River drainage links the interior of the park to the Gulf of Alaska. Its salmon runs support wildlife and local communities, and the surrounding wetlands and lakes provide nesting habitat for trumpeter swans and many migratory birds [1]. At higher elevations the ecosystem shifts from spruce forest to alpine tundra and finally to ice and rock, and Dall sheep and mountain goats use the steep slopes above the treeline.

Communities Around the Park

Small communities lie along the park’s edges, including McCarthy, Chitina, Copper Center and Yakutat. Many residents combine tourism, guiding and subsistence activities, and the Athabascan and Tlingit communities named by the National Park Service retain long-standing ties to the land and its resources [1][2]. The park’s mixed land ownership means that private inholdings, Native lands and federal lands often sit side by side.

Why It Matters

Wrangell–St. Elias illustrates the scale of the protections created for Alaska in 1980, when Congress set aside tens of millions of acres. It preserves intact ecosystems from sea level to more than 18,000 feet, protects cultural landscapes such as the Kennecott mines, and forms the core of a cross-border wilderness with Canada [1][2].

FAQs

Is Wrangell–St. Elias the largest national park in the United States? Yes. It covers about 13.2 million acres and is roughly six times the size of Yellowstone.

What is the highest mountain in Wrangell–St. Elias? Mount St. Elias, at 18,008 feet, the second-highest peak in the United States.

What is Kennecott? Kennecott is a historic copper mining site near McCarthy, active from 1911 to 1938 and now a National Historic Landmark.

Is the park a World Heritage Site? Yes, jointly with Glacier Bay in Alaska and Kluane and Tatshenshini-Alsek in Canada.

When was the park established? The laws establishing the park and preserve were enacted in 1980.

Sources

1. National Park Service: What’s So Special about Wrangell-St. Elias
2. National Park Service: Wrangell-St. Elias Park Management

Editorially reviewed by Specialty Digest Editorial TeamLast reviewed November 11, 2026Researched and drafted with AI assistanceReport an issue