National Park Service

U.S. Department of the Interior

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve

Fact Sheet

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve

PO Box 439, Copper Center, AK 99573

www.nps.gov/wrst

Superintendent Ben Bobowski

Established December 1, 1978 Designated National Monument

 October 24, 1979 Designated World Heritage Site

 December 2, 1980 Designated National Park and Preserve

Size Largest national park in the United States

 Park 8,323,148 acres 13,004.9 square miles (33,683 square kilometers)

 Preserve 4,852,753 acres 7,582.4 square miles (19,637 square kilometers)

 Total 13,175,901 acres 20,587.3 square miles (53,602 square kilometers)

 

 Wilderness 9,431,741 acres 14,737.1 square miles (38,169 square kilometers)

Visitation Approximately 87,000 people per year

NPS Staffing Permanent: approximately 40

 Seasonal: approximately 75

Park Roads Nabesna Road: 42 miles (68 kilometers) in length, gravel

 McCarthy Road: 59 miles (98 kilometers) in length, gravel

Landmarks Elevation above Sea Level

 Copper Center Visitor Center 1150 feet 350.5 meters

 Kennecott Mines Nat. Historic Landmark 2000 feet 609.6 meters

 Slana Ranger Station 2198 feet 670.0 meters

 Yakutat District Office 33 feet 10.0 meters

 Mt. St. Elias 18,008 feet 5488.8 meters

 Mt. Bona 16,421 feet 5005.1 meters

 Mt. Blackburn 16,390 feet 4995.7 meters

 Mt. Sanford 16,237 feet 4949.0 meters

 Mt. Churchill 15,638 feet 4766.5 meters 

Flora Vascular Plants: 1318 taxa documented

 Tree Species: 8

 Lichens: 133 species documented

 Bryophytes (mosses and liverworts): 187 documented

 

Wildlife Species Mammals: 54

 Birds: 239

 Fish: 88

 Amphibians: 2 (wood frog and boreal toad)

 Reptiles: 0

 Insects: 56

Revised 4/2016 EXPERIENCE YOUR AMERICATM
EXPERIENCE YOUR AMERICATM

The Copper River Length: 290 miles (467 km)

 Elevation drop: 3,600 feet (1,097 meters) from source to sea

 Discharge: estimated at 61,000 cubic feet (1,727 cubic meters) per second

 Daily Sediment Load: 750,000 cubic feet (21,238 cubic meters)

 Fourth siltiest river in the world 

 Only major river to penetrate the Chugach Mountain Range. 

 Spawning corridor for famous Copper River Sockeye and Chinook Salmon

Mountain Ranges Alaska Mountain Range

 Chugach Mountain Range

 Wrangell Mountain Range

 St. Elias Mountain Range (highest coastal range in the world)

Volcanoes 12 volcanoes in the park (The Wrangell Volcanic Field)

 Highest and largest active volcano outside of Hawaii in the United States:

 Mt. Wrangell at 14,163 feet / 4,317 meters) elevation and composed of 250

 cubic miles (1,042 cubic km) of lava

Glaciers Greatest concentration of glaciers in North America.

 3.3 million acres (13335 sq km), or 33%, of Wrangell-St Elias is covered by glacial ice 

 Longest valley glacier in North America: 

 Nabesna Glacier at 54 miles (87 km) in length

 Largest piedmont glacier in the world:

 Malaspina Glacier at 1,500 square miles (3,885 square km) in area

 Largest sub-polar icefield in North America:

 Bagley Icefield at 127 miles (204 km) in length

 Longest tidewater glacier in North America:

 Hubbard Glacier at 76 miles (122 km) in length 

Weather Winter

 Average January minimum temperature -13.9 F -25.5 C 

 Record January minimum temperature -65.0 F -53.9 C

 Summer

 Average July maximum temperature 68.0 F 20.0 C

 Record July maximum temperature 91.0 F 32.8 C

 Rain

 Average annual rainfall 10.9 in 27.7 cm

 Record annual rainfall 14.9 in 37.8 cm

 

 Snow

 Average annual snowfall 50.4 in 128.0 cm

 Record annual snowfall 93.9 in 238.5 cm

 (Weather data collected from Gulkana Airport.)