What's on in Wrangell-St Elias National Park, United States through the year

Busy — Winter / Christmas break in United States, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: Northern lights season (25 Aug – 15 Apr (usually)), McCarthy Road unmaintained (1 Oct – 8 May (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Northern lights season (25 Aug – 15 Apr (usually)), McCarthy Road unmaintained (1 Oct – 8 May (usually))

Busy — Spring break in United States

Nothing new starts in March.

Still on: Northern lights season (25 Aug – 15 Apr (usually)), McCarthy Road unmaintained (1 Oct – 8 May (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: Northern lights season (25 Aug – 15 Apr (usually)), McCarthy Road unmaintained (1 Oct – 8 May (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

• Opening

  Scheduled Chitina-McCarthy flights

  15 May – 15 Sep · usuallySummer season opensBook early

  Wrangell Mountain Air runs three scheduled flights a day between Chitina and the McCarthy airstrip from mid-May to mid-September; outside that window the same 25-minute hop over the Chitina river bars is charter-only. It's how most visitors reach Kennecott and the glaciers without driving the McCarthy Road. Source ↗

• Season

  Kennecott summer season

  23 May – 13 Sep · usuallyTrail season

  The Kennecott Visitor Center and the Slana and Copper Center ranger stations are staffed only from late May to mid-September, which is also the window for any ranger-led mill town tours and guided access to Root Glacier. Outside it, the largest national park in the country runs on self-sufficiency. Source ↗

Still on: McCarthy Road unmaintained (1 Oct – 8 May (usually))

Busy — Summer break in United States, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in June.

Still on: Scheduled Chitina-McCarthy flights (15 May – 15 Sep (usually)), Kennecott summer season (23 May – 13 Sep (usually))

Busy — Summer break in United States, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: Scheduled Chitina-McCarthy flights (15 May – 15 Sep (usually)), Kennecott summer season (23 May – 13 Sep (usually))

Busy — Summer break in United States, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Nature

  Northern lights season

  25 Aug – 15 Apr · usuallyAurora

  Once the nights darken at the end of August the aurora can show over the park until April; the catch is that lodges, flights and visitor centres close by late September, so early autumn is the practical window. Source ↗

• Nature

  Autumn colour on the tundra

  25 Aug – 20 Sep · usually

  Fall reaches the park by late August, turning the tundra red and the aspen and birch gold along the McCarthy and Nabesna roads into mid-September, just as the summer services wind down. Source ↗

Still on: Scheduled Chitina-McCarthy flights (15 May – 15 Sep (usually)), Kennecott summer season (23 May – 13 Sep (usually))

Busy — Summer break in United States

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Scheduled Chitina-McCarthy flights (15 May – 15 Sep (usually)), Kennecott summer season (23 May – 13 Sep (usually)), Northern lights season (25 Aug – 15 Apr (usually)), Autumn colour on the tundra (25 Aug – 20 Sep (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

• Closure

  McCarthy Road unmaintained

  1 Oct – 8 May · usuallyRisk

  Alaska DOT stops grading and plowing the 60-mile gravel McCarthy Road on 1 October and doesn't reopen it for the season until around early May, though crews may clear it sporadically just to reach the McCarthy airstrip. McCarthy and Kennecott's lodges and the park's own visitor centers close for the same months. Source ↗

Still on: Northern lights season (25 Aug – 15 Apr (usually))

Busy — Thanksgiving break in United States

Nothing new starts in November.

Still on: Northern lights season (25 Aug – 15 Apr (usually)), McCarthy Road unmaintained (1 Oct – 8 May (usually))

Busy — Winter / Christmas break in United States, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: Northern lights season (25 Aug – 15 Apr (usually)), McCarthy Road unmaintained (1 Oct – 8 May (usually))