Wrangell-St. Elias

Fact Sheet National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve PO Box 439, Copper Center, AK 99573 www.nps.gov/wrst Superintendent Ben Bobowski Established December 1, 1978 October 24, 1979 December 2, 1980 Size Largest national park in the United States Park 8,323,148 acres 13,004.9 square miles Preserve 4,852,753 acres 7,582.4 square miles Total 13,175,901 acres 20,587.3 square miles (33,683 square kilometers) (19,637 square kilometers) (53,602 square kilometers) Wilderness (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 Copper Center Visitor Center Kennecott Mines Nat. Historic Landmark Slana Ranger Station Yakutat District Office Mt. St. Elias Mt. Bona Mt. Blackburn Mt. Sanford Mt. Churchill Designated National Monument Designated World Heritage Site Designated National Park and Preserve 9,431,741 acres 14,737.1 square miles Elevation above Sea Level 1150 feet 350.5 meters 2000 feet 609.6 meters 2198 feet 670.0 meters 33 feet 10.0 meters 18,008 feet 5488.8 meters 16,421 feet 5005.1 meters 16,390 feet 4995.7 meters 16,237 feet 4949.0 meters 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 EXPERIENCE YOUR AMERICA™ Revised 4/2016 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 Record January minimum temperature Summer Average July maximum temperature Record July maximum temperature Rain Average annual rainfall Record annual rainfall Snow Average annual snowfall Record annual snowfall -13.9 F -65.0 F -25.5 C -53.9 C 68.0 F 91.0 F 20.0 C 32.8 C 10.9 in 14.9 in 27.7 cm 37.8 cm 50.4 in 128.0 cm 93.9 in 238.5 cm (Weather data collected from Gulkana Airport.) EXPERIENCE YOUR AMERICA™