Wrangell - St Elias National Park & Preserve

Wrangell-St. Elias is the largest national park in the United States, a staggering wilderness in southeastern Alaska bigger than Switzerland and larger than six of the smallest US states combined. Here, four great mountain ranges collide, throwing up some of the highest peaks in North America, and vast glaciers grind down from the icefields toward broad, braided rivers. It is a land of superlatives on a scale that defies easy comprehension.

Glaciers, giants, and a ghost mine

Despite its size, the human story concentrates at Kennecott, a hauntingly preserved copper-mining town of rust-red buildings clinging to a hillside above the Root Glacier, reached via the tiny, characterful hamlet of McCarthy at the end of a long gravel road. From here, families can hike out onto a glacier, flightsee over icefields, or simply stand small before mountains that seem to have no top. Wildlife is abundant but wide-ranging: bears, moose, Dall sheep, and caribou roam the immensity.

For a UK family, this is the raw, remote Alaska of the imagination, a place where the wilderness is genuinely vast and getting there is part of the adventure.

You come to Wrangell-St. Elias to confront true wilderness on a scale that simply does not exist in Britain, or almost anywhere else. This is the biggest national park in the country, a place of colossal peaks, rivers of ice, and horizons that swallow you whole. To stand at Kennecott with the Root Glacier at your feet and mountains towering behind is to feel genuinely, thrillingly small.

It is also a park that rewards effort. The long gravel drive and the frontier feel of McCarthy give a real sense of journeying to the edge of the map, which teens tend to find far more exciting than another car park. Guided glacier hikes let a family walk on the ice itself, safely and unforgettably, while flightseeing reveals the sheer immensity from above. For those willing to venture beyond the beaten track, few places on Earth deliver wilderness so vast and so raw.

Access is the defining challenge here. From Anchorage you drive to Chitina, then take the McCarthy Road, a long, rough, and famously slow gravel route that can take hours and demands care, a spare tyre, and a hire car cleared for it. The road ends before McCarthy, where you park and cross a footbridge on foot into the tiny town; a local shuttle then ferries visitors the final few miles up to Kennecott. Within the Kennecott and McCarthy area, exploration is largely on foot, with trails leading out to the Root Glacier. Given the immensity of the park, most of it is true trackless wilderness reached only by bush plane. Fuel and services are scarce, so arrive prepared and self-sufficient.

There is no conventional public transport to Wrangell-St. Elias, and given its remoteness a hire car is essential for the overland approach from Anchorage. Some visitors avoid the long gravel McCarthy Road by taking a small bush flight into McCarthy instead, which is a popular alternative worth considering. At the road's end you leave the car and cross a footbridge on foot, after which a local shuttle service carries visitors up to Kennecott. Within the park, travel is on foot or, for the vast backcountry, by chartered bush plane. For a UK family, the realistic plan is a hire car to McCarthy or a bush flight, then shuttles and walking once there.

• This is remote and rugged; plan five to seven days or more, and treat the long journey in as part of the trip, not an obstacle.
• The McCarthy Road is a long, slow gravel route; check current conditions, carry a spare tyre, and confirm your hire company allows it.
• You park before McCarthy and cross a footbridge into town; from there a shuttle runs to Kennecott.
• Book a guided glacier hike on the Root Glacier for the signature experience; going alone on ice is dangerous without gear and skills.
• Services are minimal, so bring supplies, fuel up before the gravel road, and expect little to no mobile signal.
• The short summer season is when access, guides, and lodging operate; most facilities close outside it.
• Flightseeing from McCarthy is the best way to grasp the sheer scale.

This is subarctic Alaska, and the weather is cool, changeable, and best experienced in the brief summer window. Summer days are mild, often in the teens Celsius, with long daylight hours but frequent rain, cloud, and cool nights, especially near the glaciers. Weather can shift quickly and mountain conditions are unpredictable. Winters are long, dark, bitterly cold, and effectively close the park to casual visitors. Even in high summer, pack warm layers, a proper waterproof jacket and trousers, a hat, gloves, and sturdy waterproof boots for glacier and trail walking. Insect repellent is essential against summer mosquitoes. Come prepared for four seasons in a single day.

Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC) is the gateway, and it is a serious journey from there: roughly four to five hours' drive to the small town of Chitina, followed by the long, slow McCarthy Road to the park's heart. For a UK family, expect a long-haul flight to a US West Coast hub such as Seattle, then an onward flight to Anchorage, and finally a multi-day overland leg. Some visitors instead take a small bush flight from a regional strip directly into McCarthy, which saves the gravel drive. However you arrive, this is a park where getting there is a genuine expedition, so build in generous time. A capable hire car is essential, and confirming it may travel the McCarthy Road is vital.