Kennecott Mines Kennecott Mines National Historic Landmark

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve

Alaska

National Park Service

U.S. Department of the Interior

THE STORY OF COPPER

Industry in the Wilderness

Deep in the heart of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and 

Preserve’s rugged landscape lies a story that begins with the Ahtna 

people, residents of the area since time immemorial. They crafted 

tools and other items from pure copper nuggets found near the 

Kennicott Valley, trading them across vast distances, and 

eventually attracting prospectors and explorers searching for 

mineral resources. One expedition was 

shown a pure copper source by a local 

Ahtna leader in 1885, but pure copper 

was never found in commercially 

profitable quantities. However, 

prospectors Jack Smith and Clarence 

Warner found exceptionally high-grade 

ore (up to 77.9% copper) high in the 

Wrangell Mountains in 1900. This 

treasure, one of the last rich copper-ore 

deposits in North America, led to the 

development of the Kennecott Mines. 

Around the time of their fortuitous discovery, Smith and Warner 

met a young, adventurous mining engineer, Stephen Birch. “I’ve got 

a mountain of copper up there,” Smith told Birch. “There’s so much 

of the stuff sticking out of the ground that it looks like a green 

sheep pasture in Ireland when the sun is shining at its best.” With 

America’s Industrial Revolution in full swing, the timing was 

perfect. The rare find catalyzed a story of westward 

expansion, technological modernization, and the rise 

of a copper empire. 

Boom! Then Bust

Immediately recognizing the claims’ potential, Birch worked to 

secure funding, helping to form the Alaska Syndicate with wealthy 

financiers the Guggenheims and J.P. Morgan in 1906. The project 

launched in earnest and the camp, concentration mill, and mines 

were built despite the challenges of the imposing, isolated 

landscape.

However, without a way to transport the copper ore to market, it 

was worthless. To solve this transportation problem, the Copper 

River and Northwestern Railway was completed in 1911—a massive 

engineering feat built in just four years. The 196-mile railway 

traversed a glacier and multiple rivers, connecting Kennecott to the 

coastal town of Cordova. From there, ships ferried the ore for 

processing to a smelter in Tacoma, Washington. The Syndicate 

owned the mine, railway, and steamships outright, and the 

Guggenheims owned the smelter, creating a monopoly in Alaska 

that would spur many legal, press, and political challenges with 

nationwide repercussions. In 1915, the Syndicate reorganized as the 

Kennecott Copper Corporation, making Birch the president of an 

influential international mining company. 

Profits soared at the outset of World War I, which fueled copper 

demand. To maximize the mill’s efficiency, the company utilized 

and adapted some of the most advanced concentrating technologies 

of the time, raising copper-ore recovery from the limestone host 

rock to a remarkable 96%. During the mine’s operation, 4.6 million 

tons of copper ore were extracted, yielding a 100-million-dollar 

profit (roughly $2 billion today). Production peaked in 1925, 

marking the start of the mine’s slow decline as profitable ore bodies 

dried up, forcing the mines to close in 1938. 

At the time of closing their Alaska location, Kennecott Copper 

Corporation was already a global force in their industry, with many 

other mining investments in the United States and internationally. 

When the company left, maintenance of the railway and site 

dissolved, leaving Kennecott to deteriorate in an isolated, remote 

wilderness. The mill town and mining camps evolved through 

periods of small-scale mining, tourism, and private development—

each era leaving an indelible mark on the area. The site and its rich 

history are now protected and celebrated as Kennecott Mines 

National Historic Landmark, established in 1986.

Mill Camp vs. Mine Camp

A Day in the Life

What was it like to live here? By most accounts, the companyowned mill camp was a good place to work and live. Management 

and some key personnel were allowed to bring their families. As a 

result, recreational activities, such as baseball, ice skating, tennis, 

dances, and movies, provided entertainment for Kennecott staff. 

These comforts were pivotal in helping retain workers in this 

remote location. 

By comparison, on the stark, craggy mountainsides, miles above 

the mill camp, life at the mining camps was less comfortable. 

Although management provided miners some amenities, such as 

hot meals and occasional movies, the cold, isolation, and brutal 

labor led to high turnover. The average mill or mine worker only 

lasted six to twelve months. 

At the height of operations, more than 600 people from over 20 

countries lived and worked in the mill and mine camps. Factors 

such as nationality, gender, and age determined which jobs and 

social opportunities were available to each person. Some came to 

advance their careers, while many others worked to fund their next 

prospecting adventure. For some immigrants, the experience was a 

springboard to a life in the United States. Regardless of a worker’s 

rank in the company’s clearly defined hierarchy, everyone toiled 

towards the same goal: a better life.

 “I sat in that bucket with my arms hanging out and my feet 

hanging over from my knees. The cable went over a big gully that 

was a thousand feet deep... a wind came along and rocked 

 the bucket from side to side. That was some ride to the mine.”

– William Collins, 1923

Why is it so dirty? 

It’s not mine tailings but a layer of silt, sand, gravel, and rock atop the shifting mass 

of ice. This debris, known as glacial till, is plucked from further up the valley by 

smaller glaciers flowing down the mountains, merging to form the Kennicott 

Glacier. As the glacier melts, the debris accumulates on the ice. 

In the early 1900s, when Kennecott Mine was at its peak, the glacier towered over 

the mill camp—higher in some places than the mill building, the tallest building in 

the camp. The Kennicott Glacier, like most Alaskan glaciers, is shrinking. This is 

primarily because rising temperatures increase summer melt rates, a process 

exacerbated in recent decades by human-caused climate change. What do you 

think the glacier and valley will look like in another 100 years? 

Yes! That’s a Glacier 

Passenger traincar in Kennecott, about 1925

GEOFF BLEAKLEY COLLECTION, MAKAWAO, HI

Historic requisition 

form, 1911

NPS / RACHEL HECKERMAN, 

MUSEUM COLLECTION, 

WRST 9244

Types of copper ore NPS / JAMIE HART

Chalcocite

Azurite Malachite Copper projectile point 

recovered from a perennial 

snow patch in the Wrangell Mountains NPS / RACHEL HECKERMAN, MUSEUM COLLECTION, WRST 15669

Left: Stephen 

Birch, 1909

P277-019-145 ALASKA STATE LIBRARY, 

WICKERSHAM STATE HISTORIC SITES 

PHOTO COLLECTION

Miner’s hat with carbide lamp

NPS / RACHEL HECKERMAN, MUSEUM COLLECTION, 

WRST 24480

Kennicott Glacier and concentration 

mill building, 1919

GEOFF BLEAKLEY COLLECTION, MAKAWAO, HI

Kennicott Glacier, 2021 JAMIE HART

Miner riding the Jumbo tramway, date unknown

WILLIAM C. DOUGLASS PHOTOGRAPHS, UAF-2006-86-6, ARCHIVES, UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA FAIRBANKS

Above: Miners at Jumbo Mine bunkhouse, between 1910 and 1913

ROY MEACHAM BYRAM

Top Left: Workers enjoyed skiing in the winter, 1937

ETHEL LECOUNT COLLECTION, COURTESY OF JEAN REPLINGER, MARSHALL, MN

Top Right: Master mechanic James McGavock in the Power Plant, 

date unknown

CANDY WAUGAMAN COLLECTION, FAIRBANKS, AK

Bottom: Kennecott Jazz Orchestra at the Mechanics Ball, 

about 1920

GEOFF BLEAKLEY COLLECTION, MAKAWAO, HI

Cleaning out an ore chute into the 

underground tram, around 1937

ETHEL LECOUNT COLLECTION, COURTESY OF JEAN REPLINGER, 

MARSHALL, MN

Right: Prospectors 

at the future site of 

Kennecott, 1902

VALDEZ MUSEUM & HISTORICAL 

ARCHIVE

Interior of the concentration mill 

building, where copper ore was 

processed, about 1968

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, PRINTS & PHOTOGRAPHS DIVISION, 

HAER, HAER AK,20-MCAR,1--16

Miners sorting ore, date unknown

JEAN MCGAVOCK LAMB

Kennecott Mines 

with Bonanza Ridge NPS / JAMIE HART

Visit the upper footbridge over National Creek 

to compare how this same view looks today. 
Welcome to Kennecott

A Living Legacy Stepping into Kennecott is like stepping back in time, offering a 

window into the past. Today, Kennecott is the best-preserved example of early 20thcentury copper mining technology in the country, located within America’s largest 

national park, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. Local residents and 

others across Alaska became passionately involved in rescuing Kennecott from the 

ravages of time. Thanks to their efforts, some buildings were stabilized and in 1986 

this site was designated as Kennecott Mines National Historic Landmark. Restoration 

crews continue to bring life to relics of a time of industrial growth, expanded markets, 

global migration, and innovation. This place is also a living community and the 

gateway to an immense wilderness.

Private Land When Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve was established in 

1980, it encompassed large tracts of non-federally owned lands. In 1998, the National 

Park Service acquired many of the significant buildings and lands of the Kennecott Mines 

National Historic Landmark. These NPS-managed properties are interspersed with 

privately owned lots, homes, and businesses within a residential subdivision. Roads in the 

subdivision are reserved for the use of lot owners and their guests. Please be courteous 

and respectful of subdivision residents and private property. 

Safety Hazards exist within the Kennecott Mines National Historic Landmark site, 

including but not limited to explosives, chemicals, mine openings, unstable buildings, 

and tailings. To reduce your contact with hazardous materials and areas, stay on 

established roads and trails; obey closure and caution signs; avoid skin contact with the 

ground, artifacts, buildings, and tailings; wash hands and harvested berries before 

eating; and clean shoes and pets’ paws after visiting. 

Opportunities for rescue and evacuation in the backcountry are slim; response time can 

be slow due to hazardous terrain and remoteness. Adequate preparation, experience, 

knowledge of extreme wilderness travel, and survival skills are essential. Always carry 

extra rations and gear for emergencies or weather-related delays. 

Before you head into the backcountry, fill out a backcountry itinerary at a visitor center 

or ranger station. Tell a friend or family member about your route and expected return 

date and time. 

This is bear country! Get a bear safety brochure at a visitor center or ranger station. 

Make noise. Stay with a group. Bear resistant food containers, available at visitor centers, 

are required for all backcountry camping. We strongly suggest that you carry bear spray. 

Do not approach moose, which injure more people than bears. 

For firearms regulations check the park website.

Planning Your Visit Stop first at the Kennecott Visitor Center to make the most of 

your experience. Here you will find park rangers available to share information on the 

historic structures, ranger programs, concessionaire offerings, hiking trails, camping, 

backcountry trip planning, and bear resistant food containers.

Things to Do Explore historic buildings paired with modern-day exhibits, feel your way 

around a large 3-D relief model, and watch the Kennecott Mill film. Enjoy a leisurely 

stroll through the National Historic Landmark, visit the Kennecott Cemetery, or hike to 

the Root Glacier. Challenge yourself by hiking several thousand feet up to the Jumbo or 

Bonanza mine remnants.

Hiking Trail lengths are approximate and subject to change due to the dynamic 

landscape of the park. All trail distances start from the Kennecott Visitor Center. Please 

respect residents by staying on trails as they pass through private property. Dispose of 

human waste and trash according to Leave No Trace principles by packing it out.

Take nothing from historic sites but inspiration for your soul, questions for your mind, 

and photographs for your memories.

Accessibility We strive to make our facilities, services, and programs 

accessible to all. As the site continues to develop, more services and facilities 

will become available. For information go to a visitor center, ask a ranger, 

call, or check our website. 

More Information 

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve

PO Box 439

Mile 106.8 Richardson Hwy.

Copper Center, AK 99573

907-822-5234

www.nps.gov/wrst

Emergencies call 24-hour NPS Dispatch 907-683-9555 or 911

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve is one of over 400 parks in the National 

Park Service System. To learn more, visit www.nps.gov

Root Glacier Trail

Difficulty: Easy / Moderate

Approx. Length: 2.5 miles / 4 km one way

Elevation Gain: Relatively level with a steep 

descent to access glacier 

This popular hike takes you to the terminus of the Root 

Glacier and offers views of the surrounding mountains. 

Cross streams cautiously and wear crampons or microspikes to hike on the glacier. 

Erie Mine Trail

Difficulty: Easy / Moderate

Approx. Length: 4 miles / 6.4 km one way

Elevation Gain: Relatively level with moderate 

elevation change 

This trail follows the lateral moraine at the edge of the 

Root Glacier. This trail does NOT take you to the Erie 

Mine - it ends 1,500 feet (457 m) below the mine at the 

end of the aerial tram. There are great views of the 

Stairway Icefall.

Old Wagon Road 

Difficulty: Easy / Moderate

Approx. Length: 4.5 miles / 7.2 km one way

Elevation Gain: Relatively level with moderate 

elevation change near Kennecott 

The former wagon road paralells the vehicle road from 

Kennecott to McCarthy through a boreal forest. The 

historic Kennecott Cemetery is located .75 miles (1.2 km) 

from the Visitor Center. Please stay on the trail as it 

passes through private property and watch for local 

vehicles and bicycles.

Bonanza Mine Trail

Difficulty: Strenuous

Approx. Length: 4.5 miles / 7.2 km one way

Elevation Gain: 3,800 ft / 1158 m gain 

This steep trail ascends Bonanza Ridge to the abandoned 

Bonanza Mine. There are stunning views above the 

treeline. Please use extreme caution in the unstabilized 

former industrial site and leave it as you found it. Stay on 

the trail as it passes through private property.

Jumbo Mine Trail

Difficulty: Strenuous

Approx. 5 miles / 8 km one way

Elevation Gain: 3,400 ft / 1036 m gain 

This steep trail climbs Bonanza Ridge to the abandoned 

Jumbo Mine and bunkhouse, offering amazing views 

above the treeline. The final 0.5 miles (.8 km) to the mine 

requires route-finding across loose rock. Use extreme 

caution in the unstabilized former industrial site and 

leave it as you found it. Stay on the trail as it passes 

through private property.

* Buildings not labeled are private homes or businesses. 

Food and shopping available at some locations.

To Root Glacier, Erie Mine, Bonanza 

Mine, and Jumbo Mine Trail Junction: 

0.75 mi/1.2km from Visitor Center

L

To Bonanza Mine and Jumbo Mine Trails 

R

Q

P

O

N

M

K

J

I

National Creek Footbridge

Assay ruin

Trail to the 

top of Mill

H

G

Sawmill ruin

F

E

D

C

Silk Stocking Row

Please respect private property

interspersed in the subdivision.

The gravel in this area and throughout the 

site is a byproduct of the milling process. 

Limestone from the mines was crushed in 

the Concentration Mill to extract copper 

ore. The waste material, called tailings, was 

often used to create level surfaces 

throughout the camp. Below is a pile of 

industrial trash, now considered historic 

artifacts from a bygone era. 

Please leave artifacts in place.

B

NPS / RACHEL HECKERMAN NPS / JAMIE HART NPS / ELVIE UNDERWOOD NPS / DANI BEEKMAN NPS / MAYA HEUBNER

Private Property and Subdivision

The NPS-managed properties are interspersed 

with privately owned lots, homes, and 

businesses within a residential subdivision. 

Roads in the subdivision are reserved for the 

use of lot owners and their guests. Please be 

courteous and respectful of subdivision 

residents and private property.

Shuttle 

Stop

A

Old Wagon Road to 

Kennecott Cemetery 

and McCarthy

To McCarthy