Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve, National park in Alaska, United States.
Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve covers the Wrangell Mountains, the western Saint Elias Mountains and the eastern Chugach Mountains. Its high point is Mount Saint Elias at 18,008 feet, and nine of the 16 highest U.S. peaks lie within its borders. The Bagley Icefield feeds glaciers such as the Malaspina and Hubbard, and about 80 percent of the land is snow, ice and rock.
Copper mining operations at Kennecott ran from 1911 to 1938 and left behind ruins that became a National Historic Landmark. This industrial activity shaped the region for several decades and drew workers from many countries.
The park lies within the traditional territory of the Ahtna Athabascan people, whose name for the Wrangell Mountains is tied to the Copper River drainage where their villages and fish camps are located. The Kennecott mill town, now a National Historic Landmark district, preserves the buildings of the 1903–1938 copper boom, including the concentration mill and the company store.
The park is large and remote, so visitors should come well-prepared and allow plenty of time for travel. Most facilities operate only from May through September, so planning a visit during these warmer months makes sense.
Nine of the sixteen highest peaks on United States soil stand inside the park, among them Mount Saint Elias at 18,008 feet, the second-highest summit in both the United States and Canada. The Bagley Icefield, North America's largest subpolar icefield, feeds glaciers such as the Malaspina and the Bering, which at 5,200 square kilometres and 190 kilometres long is the continent's largest and longest glacier.
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