Getting to McCarthy
Getting to McCarthy is part of the experience. There is one road in and it doesn’t go all the way.
Driving
From Anchorage, the drive takes roughly 6 to 7 hours. You’ll follow the Glenn Highway through the Matanuska Valley and past the Chugach Mountains to Glennallen, then south to Chitina on the Edgerton Highway. At Chitina, the pavement ends and the McCarthy Road begins.
The McCarthy Road runs 60 miles along the old Copper River and Northwestern Railway bed. It’s gravel, it’s rough in places, and it claims its share of tires every summer. Many car rental companies don’t allow their vehicles on this road, so check before you make plans. The drive is slow but scenic. You’ll cross the Kuskulana Bridge (a narrow, original railway bridge over a gorge) and pass the old Gilahina Trestle, a nearly 900-foot railroad bridge built in 1911 in about eight days. The trestle is on the National Historic Register and worth a stop.
There’s a sign posted by the side of the McCarthy Road as you leave town, headed back out of the park. It warns of danger, bad weather, rough road conditions. How often do you see warning signs as you’re leaving the backcountry? The road used to have another sign at the Chitina end claiming you were entering “The Worst Road in Alaska”. It’s not quite that bad anymore, but it still eats tires every summer, and a few vans too.
At mile 60, the road ends at a parking area. From there, you walk across the footbridge over the Kennicott River. It’s about half a mile into town on foot. If the weather is decent and you’re traveling light, take the walk. Shuttle service is also available.
Flying
Wrangell Mountain Air (+1-907-554-4411) offers charter flights into McCarthy from Chitina and other locations. You can also fly from Glennallen on the mail plane, which runs twice weekly through Copper Valley Air (+1-907-822-4200). Flying in gives you a bird’s-eye view of the park and the Wrangell Mountains that’s hard to beat.
Shuttle services
Shuttle service from Glennallen and other pickup points is available seasonally. Check with local providers for current schedules and rates.
Things to Do in McCarthy and Kennicott
There is no shortage of things to do in McCarthy. The town is small, but the park surrounding it is not.
Walk the town
McCarthy has two streets and two cross streets. You’ll see more dogs than people most days. The McCarthy-Kennicott Historical Museum is worth a visit for the mining history and photographs from the early days. Poke around the old buildings, talk to the locals, grab a drink at the Golden Saloon.
Visit Kennicott
Five miles up the road from McCarthy sits the Kennicott Mill Town, a National Historic Landmark. The old mine buildings, including the massive 14-story concentration mill, are still standing. The National Park Service runs guided tours of the mill building, and the Kennicott Visitor Center is a good stop for park information.
Getting Around McCarthy & Kennicott
Once you cross the footbridge, you’re on foot unless you’ve arranged a ride. Wrangell Mountain Air will shuttle their own customers from the airstrip, but they don’t offer transportation to the general public anymore.
The main public shuttle is Copper Town Shuttle. They typically operate mid-May through mid-September and post a schedule at the start of each season. No dedicated phone number for the shuttle itself. You’ll need to call the front desk at Ma Johnson’s Hotel to arrange a ride.
Dan Talcott also runs Blackburn Heritage Shuttle, mostly on-call rather than a fixed schedule. You can reach him at dtal544@frontier.com or (425) 351-5021.
If you’re heading to Kennicott, it’s five miles on the old wagon road from McCarthy. Flat, easy walking, glacier alongside you the whole way. Most people just walk it.
Five miles doesn’t sound like much, but the walk up the wagon road from McCarthy to Kennicott is one of those stretches where the scale of the place starts to sink in. The Kennicott Glacier runs alongside you the whole way, covered in rock debris so it barely looks like ice. The mill buildings get bigger and bigger as you approach. When you arrive, you’re standing among structures that processed $200 million worth of copper a century ago and then were simply abandoned when the ore ran out. Poke your head in the doors of the old buildings, but remember that some of them are private residences. People still live here.
Hike Root Glacier
One of the most popular hikes in the area. A trail from Kennicott takes you out to the glacier where you can walk on the ice. Kennecott Wilderness Guides (KWG) offers guided glacier hikes and ice climbing for those who want to get out on the ice with crampons and gear.
Backcountry hiking and backpacking
This is the real draw. Wrangell-St. Elias has millions of acres of trail-less backcountry, and McCarthy is the jumping-off point for most of it. Bush planes fly from McCarthy into places like Skolai Pass, the Chitistone Valley, and the Bremner River country. Expeditions Alaska runs guided backpacking trips into many of these areas, from beginner-friendly basecamps to serious multi-day traverses.
Flightseeing
If you don’t have a week for the backcountry, a flightseeing tour over the Wrangell Mountains is one of the best things you can do. The scale of the glaciers and peaks from the air is hard to comprehend until you see it.
Rafting
The rivers around McCarthy offer everything from mellow floats to serious whitewater. The Nizina, Kennicott, and Chitina rivers are all accessible from town.
Photography
The light here is remarkable, especially in the fall and the shoulder seasons. The combination of mountains, glaciers, old mine buildings, and small-town character makes McCarthy one of the best photography locations in Alaska. Take a drive on the McCarthy road and photograph the Gilahina Trestle and fall colors in the morning, and the Kennicott mill buildings in the afternoon. All in a single day.
Where to Stay in McCarthy
Accommodations in McCarthy are limited and seasonal. Book ahead in the summer.
Ma Johnson’s Hotel is the historic hotel right in McCarthy, run by the McCarthy Lodge. The Golden Saloon next door is the town’s gathering spot. McCarthy Lodge also operates dining and lodging.
Kennicott Glacier Lodge is up the road in Kennicott, with rooms overlooking the glacier and the Wrangell Mountains. It’s the larger operation in the area.
Several local residents offer cabins, B&Bs, and hostel-style accommodations. There are also a couple of campgrounds near the end of the road, before the footbridge.
None of this is fancy. That’s the point.
Food, Dining & General Info
Food & Dining
The Golden Saloon is the local bar with solid food. An adjacent fine dining option operates nearby as well. The Potato is a newer spot just up the road. In Kennicott, Joe’s Meatza Wagon has good food (and a great name).
Options are limited. This is a town of 30 people at the end of a dirt road. But you won’t go hungry, and the food is better than you’d expect.
Practical Information
Cash
Bring it. Don’t expect to find an ATM.
McCarthy as a Base for Wrangell-St. Elias
For most people visiting Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, McCarthy is where you start. It’s where the bush planes take off, where the guides are based, and where you eat your first real meal after a week in the backcountry.
All of our Wrangell-St. Elias backpacking trips stage out of McCarthy. We drive from Anchorage, overnight in town, fly into the backcountry the next morning, and return to McCarthy at the end of the trip for a shower, a meal, and one more night before heading back to civilization. An afternoon wandering Kennicott after a week in the mountains is one of the best parts of the trip.
