(Above: Looking east on the Glenn highway toward
the Wrangell Range.)
The Copper River Basin is an area roughly the size of Ohio, encompassing the land surrounding the mighty Copper River, one of Alaska's most impressive. The Copper River flows through Wrangell-St. Elias National Park (see below), and passes near numerous small towns en route to Prince William Sound and the town of Cordova. Glennallen is the unofficial "capital" of this area, with most of the area's services. This area is probably one of the more overlooked tourist areas in the state, but it's beginning to be "discovered." Visit Copper Center, a native village and one of the original Gold Rush era boom towns (it was on the inland route from Valdez to the gold fields), take a flightseeing trip out of Gulkana Airport, do a raft trip on the Gulkana River (a National Wild and Scenic River), check out a fish wheel scooping up Salmon along the Copper River (lots of them down near Chitina), or take a day trip down to Valdez (three hours from Glennallen if you stop to look a the the scenery).
The largest national park in the United States, Wrangell-St.Elias has huge mountains (some of the highest in Alaska), glaciers, rivers, and ghost towns. Although it's becoming more popular, still very few people visit it. The Kennicott-McCarthy area is especially popular. Kennicott is a ghost town; the site of a former copper mine abandoned in the 1930s. McCarthy is a cool little village pretty much out in the middle of nowhere ... no electricity (except for generators), but they do have recently installed cellular phone service. McCarthy has basic tourist services, but you'll also find some in Kennicott, most notably at the Kennicott Glacier Lodge.
When travelling to this area, be sure to stop at the Copper Basin Chamber of Commerce visitor center at the intersection of the Glenn and Richardson Highways. It's staffed by friendly Alaskan volunteers and has lots of brochures and advice (even free Moose nuggets!). It's located at "The Hub," a very well-situated gas station and convenience store. From The Hub you can take the Richardson Hwy. south to Valdez or north to Fairbanks (or branch off toward Tok in a few miles and back to the Alaska Highway).
- Copper Basin Homepage
This is a good site with pictures, info on the area, and links to some tourism sites
- McCarthy-Kennicott Home Page
Pictures and useful info
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- Official NPS Wrangell-St.Elias site
- Park topo maps
Topographical maps of Wrangell-St. Elias NP, courtesy of the NPS
