Getting There

Flying

The 3,500 foot gravel McCarthy Air Strip is located 4 miles from Kennicott.

Security Aviation and Ellis Air Taxi provide scheduled service from Anchorage and Glennallen to McCarthy-Kennicott on Wednesdays and Fridays, year round.

Wrangell Mountain Air provides daily flights from Chitina to McCarthy-Kennicott during the summer season; reservations are required.

Driving

The drive from Anchorage or Fairbanks goes through Glennallen, then south onto the Richardson Highway past Copper Center to the Edgerton Highway, about 34 miles from Glennallen (and about 80 miles north of Valdez). This road runs 33 miles to the town of Chitina, located at the confluence of the Copper and Chitina rivers.

Once across the Copper River, the road winds another 63 miles along the old roadbed of the Copper River and Northwestern Railway to the Kennicott River. This is one-lane, dirt road and conditions vary, so drive carefully!

The steel span that extends over the 238 foot deep Kuskulana Canyon, about 16 miles out of Chitina, is the only railroad bridge still in use. The bridge was built in two months during the winter of 1910 in temperatures as low as 60 below zero! About halfway down the road to Kennicott are the remains of the Gilahina trestle, containing half a million board feet of lumber, built in late January, 1911 in eight days.

There are not many miles of 4-lane roads in Alaska, and some routes (like the Denali Highway or the McCarthy Road) are gravel or dirt. So it takes longer to drive places than you might anticipate. The following are approximate driving times and distances to McCarthy:

Until the late 1970s, there was a vehicle bridge across the Kennicott River that allowed people to drive the last mile to McCarthy and 5 more miles to Kennicott. But a hidden lake under the Kennicott Glacier broke its ice dam and washed out the bridge. For awhile, there was only a hand-pulled tram to use in crossing the Kennicott River. In 1996, the State of Alaska built a footbridge across the river.

After you reach the end of the road, you can park in the lot by the west side of the footbridge; it’s on privately owned land, so you’ll need to pay a daily parking fee. Then use one of the wheeled carts to haul your supplies and luggage across the footbridge. You then take a shuttle bus (operating about every 30 minutes) to get the last 5 miles from the east side of the bridge to Kennicott. Shuttles operate between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. from the bridge to Kennicott. Once you get to Kennicott, you can call 907-554-1717 and we’ll pick you up for the final trip up the hill from downtown Kennicott to 17 Silk Stocking Row.

Scheduled Van Service

If you decide you don’t want to fly or drive yourself, there are still other options for getting to Kennicott. Back Country Connection provides daily shuttle service from Glennallen and Chitina to McCarthy/Kennicott. And Alaska/Yukon Trails provide reservation-only service from Delta, Fairbanks, Glennallen, Paxon and Valdez.

Whether you choose to fly or drive, be sure to bring your camera and lots of film. The trip to Seventeen Silk Stocking Row is a part of this getaway that you won’t want to miss.