McCarthy / Kennicott: This morning begins your journey to Copper Center with a stop at Wrangell-St. Elias National Park Visitors Center. With a unique ranger talk and walk, the area becomes more than just another spruce tree. Learn about the largest national Park in both Alaska and Canada. Then join in on the infamous film “Crown of the Continent” which will shed light on the park you are about to enter.

After a scenic drive to the native village of Chitina, board a small plane for an exciting flightseeing tour over the Wrangell St. Elias National Park. Six times the size of Yellowstone, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park encompasses 20,000 square miles of mountain wilderness. It includes nine of the sixteen highest peaks in the US, the largest concentration of mountains over 14,000 feet in North America. This flight will amaze you with views that rival those in Denali!

Upon arriving in McCarthy, the lore and history of this remote village will envelop you.  Hear of the history of the ore mining operations between 1910-1938. The Kennicott Mine produced and milled 200 million dollars worth of copper ore, copper & silver. The old railroad bed has been graded with gravel and is one of only two gravel roads in this remote area.

Lunch & dinner can be purchased in the dining room of the Kennicott Glacier Lodge. Here you can relax, read, play a family game, walk, take a hike onto a glacier and more. Evenings usually bring a talk or slide show from one of the local companies either on glacier climbing or flight seeing. Overnight in rooms that will take you back in time, an escape into Alaska’s past with antiques, clippings of old newspapers and magazines, and relics from days gone by.

View our preferred accommodations for this area:
Copper River Valley Area Lodging