Fishing in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park

Wrangell-St. Elias is the largest national park in the United States — over 13 million acres of glaciers, mountain ranges, and drainages that split between two of Alaska's great river systems.

The Copper River drains south toward the Gulf of Alaska; the Yukon River drainage runs north toward the Bering Sea.

That divide matters to anglers because the fish don't cross it: rainbow trout and steelhead are native to the Copper side, northern pike to the Yukon side, and salmon have not been found in the Yukon drainage portion of the park at all.

Road access into this country is limited to two corridors — Nabesna Road and McCarthy Road — and most of the fishable water that visitors actually reach sits along or near those routes. On the Nabesna Road side, Rufus Creek at mile 6 holds Dolly Varden.

Twin Lakes at mile 27. 8, where Kendesnii Campground sits, is the more productive stop — arctic grayling, lake trout, and burbot are all possible. Jack Creek at mile 35. 3 is another primitive campsite with fishing nearby.

Along the McCarthy Road corridor, Sculpin Lake, Silver Lake, and Strelna Lake are the named waters.

The Edgerton Highway, which connects to Chitina and the park's western approach, runs past Liberty Falls Creek at mile 25, then 3-Mile Lake at mile 30, 2-Mile Lake at mile 31, and Chitina Lake at mile 33 — all worth stopping for rainbow trout, arctic grayling, and Dolly Varden.

The Copper River itself, and the Klutina River near Copper Center, are where salmon fishing concentrates. Sockeye, Chinook, and silver salmon move through the Klutina.

Copper River salmon — among the first commercially harvested in Alaska each year — originate in part from waters inside the park and return through it to spawn, carrying ocean nutrients back into streams that would otherwise run lean.

A State of Alaska Sport Fishing License is required to fish here. The park and preserve spans three state sport fish management regions, with road-accessible waters falling under the Upper Copper/Upper Susitna and Upper Tanana River management areas.

Qualified rural residents fishing under federal subsistence regulations may need a federal registration permit, available at the Wrangell-St.

Elias Visitor Center in Copper Center and the Slana Ranger Station — check with the park for current requirements before you go. Most of this water is remote enough that you won't share a bank with many people. That's the point.

Getting to the better water often means committing to the road conditions, the weather, and the distance — which is exactly what keeps it worth fishing.