Wrangell-St. Elias National Park
Incomparable backpacking trips in Alaska’s largest national park.
Alaska Alpine Adventures has been guiding Wrangell-St. Elias National Park since 2003 under an NPS Commercial Use Authorization (CUA). We run one scheduled trip into the park each summer – a 10-day fly-in backpacking expedition through the seldom-explored north Wrangells, well away from the McCarthy / Kennicott road corridor that most park visitors experience. Wrangell-St. Elias is America’s largest national park – larger than Rhode Island and Vermont combined – and holds the continent’s largest assemblage of glaciers, the greatest collection of peaks above 16,000 feet, and the largest non-polar icefield in the world.
About Wrangell-St. Elias National Park
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve covers 13.2 million acres in eastern Alaska – America’s largest national park and roughly six times the size of Yellowstone. The Alaska, Chugach, and Wrangell-Saint Elias ranges meet here in what geographers call the “mountain kingdom of North America.” The park contains the continent’s largest assemblage of glaciers, the largest non-polar icefield in the world, and the greatest concentration of peaks above 16,000 feet on the continent, including Mount St. Elias at 18,008 feet – the second highest peak in the United States. Combined with neighboring Kluane National Park in the Yukon, Tatshenshini-Alsek Provincial Park in British Columbia, and Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska, the four parks form a single UNESCO World Heritage Site – 24 million acres of internationally protected wilderness, the largest contiguous protected area on Earth. Wildlife range across this scale: grizzlies, caribou, moose, Dall sheep, mountain goats, wolves, and golden and bald eagles. The Ahtna and Upper Tanana peoples have lived in the Wrangell region for thousands of years. The Ahtna of the Copper River basin maintain traditions of seasonal travel and subsistence harvest that predate the park’s establishment by millennia; the Upper Tanana communities on the park’s northern boundary share related cultural ties. Many of the routes we travel pass through their traditional homelands.
Our Guided Wrangell-St. Elias Trip
We run one scheduled Wrangell-St. Elias backpacking trip each summer – a 10-day Level 3 expedition covering 50+ miles in the seldom-explored north Wrangells. This is a deliberate positioning choice. Most commercial activity in Wrangell-St. Elias happens in the road-accessible McCarthy / Kennicott corridor on the park’s south side; the north Wrangells terrain we travel sees a fraction of the visitors and offers wilderness on a scale that bears comparison only with itself. Our Backpacking Wrangell-St. Elias is a multi-leg access: from Anchorage on day 2, the group transfers by van approximately 3.5 hours to Tolsana Lake near Glennallen, AK, where we meet Copper Valley Air Service for the charter floatplane flight into the north Wrangells. No McCarthy or Kennicott road approach is used. The route covers off-trail terrain through alpine ridges, glacial valleys, and the foothills of the Wrangell Range. Days range 6-10 miles; pack weights typically run 35-45 pounds. Wildlife encounters include Dall sheep on the ridges, grizzlies in the valleys, caribou, and an exceptional density of raptors overhead. The trip is fully outfitted, capped at 8 guests, and operates under our NPS Commercial Use Authorization.
How to Get to Wrangell-St. Elias & When to Visit
Our Wrangell-St. Elias trip begins in Anchorage with a night at our partner hotel, including an orientation dinner and breakfast the following morning. On day 2, the group transfers by van approximately 3.5 hours from Anchorage to Tolsana Lake near Glennallen, AK, where we meet Copper Valley Air Service for the charter floatplane flight into the north Wrangells – bypassing the McCarthy / Kennicott corridor that most park visitors use. The exact landing point inside the park varies by year and weather conditions. The Wrangell-St. Elias season runs from mid-June through early September. July and August offer the most consistent weather and the longest stretches of accessible terrain at higher elevations. Late June can be excellent but snowfields may still block higher routes. Early September brings the first fall colors and cooler nights. Weather is the dominant variable on any north Wrangells trip – the Chugach and Wrangell ranges trap storms moving in from the Pacific, and conditions can shift quickly. We schedule the trip with weather contingency built in.
Frequently Asked Questions
Our Wrangell-St. Elias trip begins in Anchorage with a night at our partner hotel (orientation dinner and breakfast). On day 2, the group transfers by van approximately 3.5 hours from Anchorage to Tolsana Lake near Glennallen, AK, where we meet Copper Valley Air Service for the charter floatplane flight into the north Wrangells. We bypass the McCarthy / Kennicott road corridor that most park visitors use. All transport is included in the trip cost.
Most commercial Wrangell-St. Elias guiding happens in the McCarthy / Kennicott corridor on the park’s south side, accessed by the McCarthy Road. Our trip is fly-in to the north Wrangells – a remote section of the park that sees a fraction of the visitors. The terrain, the wildlife density, and the wilderness experience are different in kind, not just degree.
Our Wrangell-St. Elias trip runs in the mid-June through early September season window. July and August offer the most consistent weather and the best access to higher terrain. Late June can be excellent but snowfields may still block higher routes. Early September brings the first fall colors and cooler nights.
Our Backpacking Wrangell-St. Elias is an Intensity Level 3 trip – the most demanding category in our catalog. Days cover 6-10 miles over off-trail terrain (alpine ridges, glacial valleys, river crossings) with pack weights of 35-45 pounds. Strong aerobic fitness, prior multi-day backpacking experience, and comfort with off-trail navigation are required.
Our Wrangell-St. Elias trip is fully inclusive of a night at our partner hotel in Anchorage on day 1 (with orientation dinner and breakfast), round-trip van transfer from Anchorage to Tolsana Lake near Glennallen, round-trip Copper Valley Air Service charter floatplane from Tolsana Lake into the north Wrangells, professional guiding, all camping and group gear (tents and trekking poles included – many competing outfitters do not provide these), and meals during the trip. Pricing currently runs $5,195 per person.
Ready to backpack Wrangell-St. Elias beyond the McCarthy corridor? Browse our Backpacking Wrangell-St. Elias expedition below, or call us at 907-351-4193 to talk through whether the north Wrangells is the right fit for your group. Our team has been guiding the park since 2003 and can walk you through the access, the terrain, and the trip arc before you commit.
Key Highlights
- Activity:
- Hiking Backpacking Packaneering
- Wildlife:
- Grizzly Bears Caribou Golden Eagles Moose Bald Eagles Black Bears Dall Sheep
- Terrain:
- Mountains Rivers Glaciers Glacial Valley Ice Field Volcanoes Lakes Tundra
