Wrangell-St. Elias National Park is the largest national park in the United States. Over 13 million acres of snowcapped mountains, glaciers, rivers and lakes are practically impenetrable by automobile. And what is accessible by car or truck consists of two unpaved roads along the outer fringes with one-lane bridges and narrow passages.

Our first view of Wrangell-St. Elias was the mountains in the distance as we crossed the border into Alaska on the Alaska Highway. From the Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge and from Lakeview Campground, we saw a glimpse of the beauty we were expecting during our roadtrip.

Our next view was at the Visitor Center on Richardson Highway (the road to Valdez). The Visitor Center is on the most western edge of the national park. Views from here were hazy and relatively nondescript, but the Visitor Center was informative with a few short trails around it to explore.

After we left Valdez, we found a boondocking spot in Kenny Lake, a small farming community on the Edgerton Highway (Route 10) which ends in Chitina where McCarthy Road—one of the two unpaved roads in the national park—begins. Even though there is a campground at the end of McCarthy Road (with a couple of others along the way), we did not want to take the Airstream down it. It is 60 miles long, running along the southern portion of Wrangell-St. Elias NP. We had already heard a couple instances this summer of motorhomes sliding off the soft shoulders when they got too close to the edge. We aren’t sure how that happened because, even though the road is narrow in some spots, there is very little traffic on it. In fact, about 30 vehicles passed us as we drove the entire length going in with less than that passing us as we drove out.

We left our Airstream at the boondocking spot to spend the day driving to and exploring McCarthy and Kennecott Mines. We were entertained with scenic river views to the south with interspersed mountain and lake views to our north, the one-lane Kuskulana Bridge as we crossed the same-named river with a glacier as its origin, and the now-unused and dilapidated Gilahina Train Trestle (in operation just for the Kennecott Copper Mines from 1911-1938). The trestle was built in just 8 days!

At the end of McCarthy Road was the Kennicott River, a campground, and plenty of parking for those who travel down to this area. A pedestrian bridge provides access across the river to get to McCarthy (about 1 mile away) and Kennecott (5 miles further). There is also a private bridge further down the river for some vehicle traffic, but the owner charges anyone who wants to cross it (with steep prices). It is not open for tourist traffic from what we understand.

McCarthy is a cute little tourist town with a year-round population of about 30, growing to a few hundred during the summer for the tourist season. It has kept its rustic feel, with antique cars located around the area, old structures remodeled for lodging and restaurants, and a museum in the old train depot. Many flock here for hiking, biking, rafting, and flightseeing (yes… there is a small airport!).

Kennecott Copper Mines, now part national historic site and part privately owned, is five miles further into the national park. How someone found copper in this remote region and developed a robust mining operation around it is mind-boggling to me. Kennecott Copper Mines had its own power plant (because… location in the middle of nowhere!), post office, general store, school, and housing. Transporting copper out of the area was by rail. Massive infrastructure was built for a mining operation that lasted less than 30 years.

The railroad hasn’t operated in that area since 1938, so the tracks have deteriorated, and trestles have crumbled. As a tourist, getting to the historic site from McCarthy requires a van ride. We tried riding our e-bikes, but they were not the right type for unpaved roads (plus it is mostly uphill for five miles!). We discovered two shuttle van options: one was $5 per person one way from the pedestrian bridge to Kennecott; the other was a free van ride that wasn’t advertised and was on a trial run for the summer of 2023. Carl learned about it from a museum volunteer. It ran every half hour between McCarthy and Kennecott.

Beyond Kennecott Copper Mines are hiking trails to Root Glacier. When we go back, our plan is to hike to Root Glacier and hang out in McCarthy. We ate at The Potato and were waited on by someone who has been coming to McCarthy in the summer for the past decade. She and her partner, along with a couple of other friends, recently bought a large piece of land on Long Lake (a long lake we passed on McCarthy Road), and they plan to build a house to settle there during the summer and travel the rest of the year.

The other unpaved road into the northern portion of Wrangell-St. Elias is Nabesna Road (42 miles long). It begins in Slana, which is on the Tok Cutoff Glenn Highway. We did not get to this road, but we will plan to drive it next time!

The day trip to McCarthy and Kennecott Mines was charming and informative and, for us, will be well worth a longer stay in the future.

Watch our short pictorial video of McCarthy Road and Kennecott Mines (above or at https://youtu.be/5-_saYoqTDs).

For previous installments of our Alaska Roadtrip:

11) The Road to Valdez

10) Kenai Peninsula … Alaska’s Summer Playground

9) Bear Encounter at the Confluence

8) Tunneling to Whittier

7) Catching Up … Parts of “Interior” Alaska

6) Denali National Park and a Peek at its Peak!

5) Driving the Dalton to the Arctic Circle

4) Summer Dog Mushing experience Iditarod racers Jeff and KattiJo Deeter of Black Spruce Dog Sledding

3) Driving the Alaska Highway

2) Banff National Park, the Icefields Parkway, and Jasper National Park

1) Alaska Roadtrip Installment 1 (Theodore Roosevelt National Park and more!)

Most likely, you are familiar with the City of Valdez because it is where the Alaska Pipeline ends, and it is infamous for the Exxon Valdez oil spill that occurred in 1989. The first is definitely true; the second needs a bit of explanation. The oil spill actually occurred when the tanker ship named Exxon Valdez struck Prince William Sound’s Bligh Reef, over 28 miles away from Valdez, as it was heading toward California.

Lesser known to those who have not yet visited the area, Valdez is a remote fishing port surrounded by mountains, glaciers, and waterfalls. Started as a gold rush town in 1898, it now has a population of about 4,000, houses a community college, operates a fish hatchery, remains an oil port, and is part of the Alaska Marine Highway ferry system with a ferry that operates between Valdez and Whittier. It has also served as a host town for extreme skiing and snow boarding competitions in the winter.

The drive to Valdez on the Richardson Highway, through Thompson Pass and Keystone Canyon, is one of the most breathtaking drives in Alaska. This road is the ONLY road to travel to Valdez by automobile. Other ways to travel to Valdez are by boat or by small plane. At one time, there were plans to bring the railroad to this part of Alaska, but a shootout in 1907 between rival railroad companies brought the construction of it to a halt in the Keystone Canyon.

One other historical note: In 1964, the Good Friday Earthquake struck 45 miles from Valdez. It took the lives of over 30 people and devastated the town’s infrastructure. Over the next three years, a new townsite was established four miles away, and any intact buildings were moved. They now have historical markers sprinkled around the old townsite, and we boondocked overnight at the location of the old post office.

On our way to Valdez, we boondocked next to the Nelchina River on Glenn Highway, which runs between Palmer and Glennallen. Using iOverlander, we found a small, abandoned campground full of overgrowth and cavernous potholes. It had about 8-10 spots, with only a couple of already-occupied ones large enough to fit our 30-ft. Airstream. Luckily, we were able to share an extra-large spot right on the river with Tim and Anne (@rocthebus), a couple from New York who had been in Alaska for about a month. As full-time RVers, they came to Alaska in a remodeled shuttle bus but soon discovered it had major framing issues underneath and were advised to replace the unit altogether. They had just purchased a small skoolie and had been living in it for about one week when we met them. We soon learned that they would be coming to Minnesota for the sugar beet harvest at the end of September, and we plan to meet up with them! They will be about 1.5 hours north of us.

We spent two restful nights next to the Nelchina River and enjoyed getting to know our new friends. We were lucky enough to see them again as we left Valdez heading north while they were heading south into town.

Visitors and Alaskan residents alike debate about which port town is better – Homer, Seward, or Valdez? All three locations are similar – sport and commercial fishing, boat cruise tours, scenic views and more. We have been to all three, and I think it just comes down to personal preference and experience in those areas. I would go to Valdez again simply for the drive to get there.

For several nights, we stayed at the Valdez Glacier Campground, a few miles past the airport and not far from Glacier View Park at the base of Valdez Glacier. Because of heavy and low rainclouds, views of the mountains and glacier here were obscured, but the lake beckoned us with large chunks of glacier ice forming a stunning waterscape.

At our campground one day, we had two bear sightings! The first walked right past our door and alongside our Airstream before scampering off into the brush. Later that day, after dinner, we went for a walk around the campground and as I (Karen) turned around to ask Carl to move along, I noticed a mama bear and two cubs cross the road behind us. I was able to get a couple of pictures before they sauntered into the woods. We soon learned that these bears had be scrounging around others who were tent camping, and one of the bears had actually ripped open a vinyl window on their pickup’s soft-sided camper shell to see what was inside!

Valdez has a few restaurants, and we ate at The Fat Mermaid down near the harbor. We also visited the Solomon Gulch Hatchery and the Allison Point Campground (a place we’d like to stay next time) which are on the other side of Port Valdez from the town, on the same road that ends in the restricted area of the Alyeska Pipeline Services. We visited Crooked Creek, a natural spawning area for pink salmon, and we attended the Gold Rush Days Festival – live music, food vendors, wine walk, can-can girls, a parade, and more.

One must-do for visitors to Valdez that we DIDN’T do was to take a glacier/wildlife cruise on the Lu-Lu Belle. We had just taken a similar tour in Seward and opted to skip this well-known adventure this time around. I would like to take the Lu-Lu Belle tour next time, as well as take the 6-hour ferry from Whittier to Valdez. Of course, we will need to travel with a smaller RV to accomplish that!

For a brief photo/video show, watch our youtube video (above or at https://youtu.be/cA1V1t_ocjc?si=rHXgav921lCoy0OS ).

For previous installments of our Alaska Roadtrip:

10) Kenai Peninsula … Alaska’s Summer Playground

9) Bear Encounter at the Confluence

8) Tunneling to Whittier

7) Catching Up … Parts of “Interior” Alaska

6) Denali National Park and a Peek at its Peak!

5) Driving the Dalton to the Arctic Circle

4) Summer Dog Mushing experience Iditarod racers Jeff and KattiJo Deeter of Black Spruce Dog Sledding

3) Driving the Alaska Highway

2) Banff National Park, the Icefields Parkway, and Jasper National Park

1) Alaska Roadtrip Installment 1 (Theodore Roosevelt National Park and more!)

[Image above was photographed from the Alaska Map provided by Alaska.org]

Where do Alaskans and tourists alike typically go in Alaska during the summer? Many will tell you the Kenai Peninsula. Surrounded by water—Cook Inlet, Prince William Sound, and the Gulf of Alaska—with icefields, glaciers, and melting snow forming waterfalls, rivers, and lakes from snow-capped mountains in the Chugach National Forest and Kenai Fjords National Park, outdoor enthusiasts and explorers sojourn to the various waterfront towns of the Kenai Peninsula to camp, boat, kayak, raft, fish, hike, climb mountains, cruise, and more.

Sterling Highway and Seward Highway, the two main roads on the peninsula, are probably the busiest roads in the state. Constant traffic flows for those making their way to the City of Kenai to dipnet fish, or to Homer for halibut fishing, or to Seward for access to the Kenai Fjords National Park. In addition, Whittier, Seward, and Homer have cruise ship ports, with a continuous influx of tourists pouring into these towns.

Of course, our first stop on the “peninsula” was Whittier, with Cooper Landing and the Kenai-Russian River Confluence next.

After that, we stayed for about a week on the west side of the peninsula in a little town called Ninilchik, about halfway between the City of Kenai and Homer. We shared a Boondocker’s Welcome spot with a couple of other RVers and, on a clear day, had stunning views of Mt. Iliamna and Mt. Redoubt—snow-covered volcanoes in the Aleutian mountain Range situated across Cook Inlet.

From Ninilchik, we drove to Homer and the 2^nd longest “spit” in the world. According to Bell’s Travel Guides Alaska: 2023 Mapbook, Homer Spit is a “natural geological phenomenon formed initially by terminal glacier moraine,” jutting about 5 miles out into the Kachemak Bay. It is a summer hotspot with boardwalks, shopping, restaurants, sportfishing, bear-watching boat tours, and more. An occasional cruise ship makes its way into its harbor during the summer. We spent a couple of hours exploring the Spit, driving its length, watching people bring their catch of the day off boats, checking out a couple of hot spots and shops. The views from Homer Spit are spectacular, with the blue waters of the Kachemak Bay bordered by a backdrop of mountains and glaciers from a part of Kenai Fjords NP.

We also took a bear viewing boat charter out of Anchor Point to Chinitna Bay with Catch-A-Lot Charters. It was a solid hour or so cruising across Cook Inlet at top speed, and we waded into the waters of Chinitna Bay to watch a sow and her two cubs clamming along the shoreline. It was spectacular! The mama bear occasionally growled when she wasn’t having success finding clams. The two cubs continuously chattered, and the male cub made mama mad one time. She pounced on him with a loud swat and bellow, and he stomped off for a short bit before coming back to hound her again. It doesn’t matter what species of animal, young’uns can aggravate their parents sometimes!

After our stay in Ninilchik, we went to the City of Kenai and were able to venture onto Kenai Beach to watch Alaskans dipnet fishing. Only residents of Alaska are allowed to dipnet fish, so access to the area is controlled. Because we were there just to watch, we were given a free one-hour parking pass. Alaskans are allowed to catch 25 fish (via dipnet) per household plus 10 fish per person in the household, equating to about 65 fish for a family of four. June and July seem to be the time to do this type of fishing, and we were there when Kenai Beach was packed with hundreds of people catching salmon before the salmon made their way up the Kenai River to spawn. We watched a couple from Fairbanks haul one fish in after another. It was quite a phenomenon to watch people wade into the water holding their dipnets at an angle, then drag them on shore to extract the fish from the net before repeating the process. From what we witnessed, it seems they catch one fish at a time and occasionally will throw one back if it wasn’t what they wanted.

Our next stop on the peninsula was Seward. Seward sits on Resurrection Bay on the east side of the Kenai Peninsula at the end of Seward Highway. The Town of Seward manages most of the campgrounds, and we found ourselves near the harbor with views of fishing boats, cruise ships, and tour boats coming and going. One of the tourism draws to Seward are the boat tours through Resurrection Bay to see whales and other wildlife as well as get a close-up view of one of the glaciers in Kenai Fjords National Park. Ours was with Major Marine Tours, a six-hour cruise that did not disappoint. Killer whales, humpback whales, Dall’s porpoises, fin whales, sea otters, sea lions, seals, puffins, and more all made an appearance during our cruise to and from the terminus of Holgate Glacier. Being in the moment to enjoy all of it and trying to capture some of it with the camera was not an easy feat. But watching the whales swim, dance, and feed in front of us was truly spectacular.

Our final stop on the Kenai Peninsula was to boondock by the Upper Trail Lake in Moose Pass. It was a large, popular boondocking area, so we had several neighbors for the few days we were there. Being next to the lake and listening/watching as seaplanes took off and landed was a great way to decompress and recuperate from a bad head/chest cold that Carl and I both suffered with for a few days. Not any pictures from this location, unfortunately!

Boondocking in Moose Pass and taking a seaplane tour are high on our list the next time we travel to Alaska. And we both want to maximize our stay in Cooper Landing. I might consider exploring the other towns, especially if we get over to Katmai or Lake Clark National Parks so I can get their stamps in my national park Passport book! Just FYI… the only way to get to those parks is by boat charter or small plane… Just another adventure to look forward to!

Enjoy the scenes from parts of Kenai Peninsula in our video (above or at https://youtu.be/hGeIPDTSN0s?si=5PvxfE8Mu_eXRkxE)

For previous installments of our Alaska Roadtrip:

9) Bear Encounter at the Confluence

8) Tunneling to Whittier

7) Catching Up … Parts of “Interior” Alaska

6) Denali National Park and a Peek at its Peak!

5) Driving the Dalton to the Arctic Circle

4) Summer Dog Mushing experience Iditarod racers Jeff and KattiJo Deeter of Black Spruce Dog Sledding

3) Driving the Alaska Highway

2) Banff National Park, the Icefields Parkway, and Jasper National Park

1) Alaska Roadtrip Installment 1 (Theodore Roosevelt National Park and more!)