McCarthy, Alaska is an itty bitty town, with just about 100 year round residents, tucked away in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. McCarthy is unique for a number of reasons—for example, there are no drivable roads leading to the town, it’s believed there are more dogs than people here, AND it’s located within the United States’ largest national park and wilderness preserve.
If you’re planning a visit to Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and want to know how to keep busy while you’re staying in this quirky, little town, here are the 8 incredible things to do in McCarthy, Alaska.
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Things to do in McCarthy, Alaska
1. Explore Wrangell-St. Elias National Park
While McCarthy is a charming town in and of itself, most visitors come here not to explore this tiny village, but, instead, to experience Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve.
McCarthy sits in the footprint of this massive protected area, which spans over 20,000 square acres, and is just a few miles or a short shuttle ride away from the park’s most popular hiking trails. For example, the Root Glacier Trail is the park’s most iconic hike, allowing you to actually walk directly on a 15-mile long sheet of glacial ice or the Bonanza Mine Trail is a challenging option, taking hikers to the top of a mountain ridge and up to the ruins of an old mine with the peaks of the Wrangell Mountains towering above.
We actually wrote a whole article about the best things to do in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, but, in short, there are endless options for adventure lovers, from ice climbing on the Root Glacier and hiking to old mining ruins on a mountaintop to rafting down the Kennicott River.
2. Explore Kennicott
Before we get any further, it’s important to understand how McCarthy came to be.
In the early 1900s, a group of prospectors and investors acquired the rights to a large plot of wilderness near the Kennicott Glacier, which, at that time, contained the richest concentration of copper on the planet. In the preceding years, a complex copper mining operation was constructed in this extremely remote corner of Alaska, through the mosquito laden summers and harsh winters.
Eventually, the Kennecott Mine opened in 1911 with five mines, a 14-story concentration mill, and an entire railway system, that ran for about 100 miles from the coastal town of Cordova to the mine itself.
At its height, 600 people lived in the town of Kennicott, which supported the mining operation, with a general store, school, post office, and other buildings for daily residential life. The mine operated for 27 years, until it abruptly closed after its copper vein ran dry.
While the mine was in operation, there had to be a place for the workers to go blow off some steam—i.e., the town of McCarthy! McCarthy was just four miles down the road from Kennicott and served as its very own Sin City, complete with saloons, gambling halls, and brothels lining its streets.
So, obviously, while you’re visiting McCarthy, you should absolutely go explore the ol’ company town of Kennicott, which is home to one of the best remaining examples of early 20th century copper mines on the planet.
To get to Kennicott from McCarthy, you can either walk the four miles up the pretty steep McCarthy Road or, alternatively, catch one of the shuttles that run between the two towns. The two operators in town are:
- Copper Town Shuttle, which costs $15 for an unlimited one-day shuttle pass, or
- the Blackburn Heritage Shuttle, which costs $5 per ride, cash only!
Most of the trailheads in Wrangell-St. Elias are located right outside of Kennicott, so, if you plan on visiting the national park, you’ll pass through here anyway. But make sure to give yourself plenty of time to explore!
Several of the town’s buildings remain open, with fascinating educational exhibits about the mine, the town of Kennicott, and the people who once lived and worked here. Alternatively, for a deeper dive into the history of the town, you can join a guided tour, like this two hour option, which is offered by the only operator that’s allowed to enter the mine’s concentration mill, which is actually one of the largest timber structures in the world (and you get to wear a fun hard hat while you explore it!).
Psssst... you might notice that I keep spelling Kennecott/Kennicott differently throughout the article. The glacier, the river, and the town itself are called Kennicott, while the mine and the company that operated it are spelled Kennecott, due to a typo on the paperwork when the business was being established. I guess you never know when clerical errors are going to have lasting impacts centuries down the road!
3. Take a flightseeing tour
One of the most popular things to do in McCarthy is to see it from above—ten thousand feet in the air, that is!
On a flightseeing tour from McCarthy, you can get a birds eye view of Wrangell-St. Elias’ 20,000 square miles of wilderness, including four mountain ranges, dizzying river braids, countless waterfalls, and 3,100 glaciers. It’s also a great way to see the park’s abundant wildlife, including moose, Dall’s sheep, caribou, and even grizzly bears. Along the way, your pilot will share tons of fascinating tidbits about the national park’s history and geology.
There are several operators that offer tours here, like Wrangell Mountain Air and Copper Valley Air Service. Tours typically range from 60 minutes to two and a half hours and start around $400 per person.
This unfortunately wasn’t in the budget for us when my husband, Justin, and I visited McCarthy, but we met so many visitors here that had just come back from flightseeing tours that were absolutely RAVING about it. It’s definitely on our bucket list for the next time we’re in McCarthy!
4. Hang out at the Golden Saloon
If there’s a beating heart of McCarthy, it’s the Golden Saloon. This bar and restaurant is a wholesome vestige of the town’s seedier past, with plenty of beers, cocktails, and stick-to-your-ribs pub fare that’s just what the body craves after a long day of hiking.
Try to time your visit on a Thursday evening, when there’s a weekly open mic night. It’s a great opportunity to get a peek into McCarthy’s bohemian, vaguely counterculture undercurrent, with locals (and tourists!) performing everything from acoustic guitar solos to slam poetry. Keep a lookout on the saloon’s Facebook page, as there’s also occasionally live music on Fridays and Saturdays.
Insider tip: The patio at The Golden Saloon is dog-friendly, as are many other establishments in McCarthy. In fact, dozens of dogs that are owned by locals run freely through the streets of McCarthy at pretty much all hours of the day.
If you're a dog-lover, like us, this is an ABSOLUTE dream come true. However, if you're planning on bringing your own furbaby that doesn't get along well with other dogs or are just not a big fan of dogs in generally, wandering around the streets of McCarthy may not be the most fun for you.
5. Check out the food scene
While McCarthy only has a handful of food establishments, the restaurants here are SURPISINGLY solid.
For example, The Potato is a laidback restaurant that serves up tasty sandwiches and, true to its name, INCREDIBLE fries (don’t miss the rosemary garlic ones—SO GOOD!). We had lunch here on a particularly cold, rainy day, and the delicious food and friendly owners were the perfect antidote to the gnarly weather.
For something even more unique, The Salmon and the Bear is arguably one of the most recognized restaurants in all of Alaska, winning the Wine Spectator Award Of Excellence for multiple years in a row. The restaurant is laser-focused on using hyper-local ingredients to craft eclectic takes on Alaskan dishes.
There are only 10 tables at The Salmon and the Bear, so be sure to make a reservation as it does book up weeks ahead of time in the summer.
6. Visit the McCarthy Kennicott Historical Museum
This tiny museum, housed in McCarthy’s old train depot, offers a glimpse into the town’s past, with old photographs, models of what the town once looked like, and remnants from its heyday. My favorite artifact here are the old cable cars, plopped on the museum’s lawn, that residents once used to pull themselves across the Kennicott River.
The museum is free, although, if you want to offer your support, there is a small gift shop here where you can pick up post cards or a t-shirt to remember your time in this quirky corner of Alaska.
It’s also 100% volunteer-operated, so, in our experience, the opening hours are on the more *flexible* side. If it happens to be closed when you first pop in, show some kindness to the volunteers that run this place and be sure to check back in later!
7. Attend a local festival
When we were visiting the town, we were struck by how many fliers were plastered all over the place with unique things to do in McCarthy—yoga classes, concerts, group hikes, you name it!
Most of these local events seemed to be sort of sporadic but there are a few annual events that you can try to time your visit around:
- Fourth of July: There’s an annual parade with restored antique cars, cute patriotic dogs, and even an appearance by Smoky the Bear to celebrate the birth of America. Afterwards there’s a bunch of fun contests, like hula hooping, nail pounding, and even a race for the slowest bicyclist!
- Wrangell Mountains Storytelling Festival: Every August (typically on the second weekend), there’s a story-telling contest, complete with a salmon chowder fundraiser and hour-long slots for both family-friendly and bawdier tall tales. We just missed visiting during this festival and I’m so bummed we didn’t get to attend—I bet the folks of McCarthy have some super interesting stories to share!
8. Shop in McCarthy
There’s only a handful of shops in McCarthy, but they perfectly reflect the town’s funky, bohemian vibe.
For example, the Wrangell Mountains Center is a nonprofit that encourages human connection with nature through art and science in Alaska and offers prints and paintings by local artists for sale. Mountain Arts is another option, that’s actually a gift shop AND coffee shop/bakery, with handmade jewelry, books, and homegoods.
So there’s definitely some solid places to pick up a quirky souvenir to remember your time in McCarthy!
Where to stay in McCarthy, Alaska
There are a few places to stay in McCarthy, pretty much all of which is owned by McCarthy Lodge Resort.
They have five options to choose from in McCarthy:
- Lancaster’s Backpacker Hotel: If you’re on a tight budget, this is the best place to stay in McCarthy, with shared bathrooms, complimentary breakfast, and a social “hostel” type vibe.
- Ma Johnson’s Historical Hotel: This boarding house, which dates back over a hundred years, is definitely the most upscale accommodations in McCarthy. It functions as a living museum, with tons of artifacts from McCarthy’s golden years sprinkled throughout the hotel, perfectly blended with more modern amenities, like memory foam mattresses, super plush bathrobes, and high thread count sheets. This would definitely be my pick of where to stay in McCarthy!
- Kate Kennedy House: This was actually built as a 1920s Sears Catalogue Home. While the house was lovingly restored in 2022, you can still find original period details throughout the two bedroom property, including a working Victrola record, rotary phone, and stereo slides depicting life in Alaska in the early 20th century. There’s also tons of amenities to make your stay cozier, including a fireplace, coffee maker, and dining area to play board games after your days of exploring McCarthy and Wrangell-St. Elias.
- The Rose House: McCarthy’s former bordello has been turned into a cozy home that’s perfect for your group, with four bedrooms, two patios, and soft robes to lounge around in.
- Bluebell: This two bedroom apartment is the most modern accommodation in McCarthy, offering a kitchen (which is hard to come by around these parts!), fireplace, and balcony overlooking the town’s streets below.
You can book any of these accommodations through the McCarthy Lodge Resort.
How to get to McCarthy, Alaska
Traveling around Alaska isn’t always the easiest and getting to McCarthy is no exception.
We actually wrote an entire guide with everything you need to know about how to get to McCarthy. Luckily, there are several different ways that you can choose from.
Driving
The most common way for people to get to McCarthy is by driving yourself.
If you drive to McCarthy straight from Anchorage, it’s an eight hour drive. However, I’d suggest combining a trip here with the magical, little town of Valdez along Alaska’s southeastern coastline, which is a five and a half hour drive in from Anchorage. Once you’re done checking out all the seriously cool things to do in Valdez (kayaking in a glacial lake! watching bald eagle eat salmon! driving down a canyon full of waterfalls!), you can drive the rest of the four hours to McCarthy.
Regardless of where you’re coming from, the last 60 miles of your drive, past the teeny town of Chitina, is along the gravel McCarthy Road. This pathway is infamous for causing flat tires, thanks to its abundant potholes and the THOUSANDS of rusted railroad ties that are left over from the old mining railroad that once laid here.
We were TERRIFIED of driving on McCarthy Road, but, to be honest, it didn’t really seem THAT bad in our experience. In fact, we found a lot of the roadways in Alaska to be much worse than McCarthy Road, like the first 50 miles of the Alaska Highway after passing the Alaska border or the Taylor Highway, on the way to Chicken.
McCarthy Road is unmaintained in the wintertime and thus, closed due to heavy snowfall, from mid-October through mid-May.
From speaking with other visitors, I think the road may be in worse shape earlier on in the summertime when it first opens and is maintained and repaired as the summer wears on. In fact, we actually saw several maintenance trucks actively working on the road when we visited in early August. So, if you can time your trip later on in the summer, I’d recommend it!
It’s worth mentioning that most rental car agencies do not allow you to drive on unpaved routes in Alaska, including McCarthy Road. So, if you’re cruising around Alaska in a rental car, be sure to check the fine print before driving here.
Luckily, there are a few other ways to get here other than driving!
Shuttles
I’d generally recommend renting a car while you’re in Alaska, but, if you don’t want to mess around with one, there are actually several different ways that you can get to McCarthy via shuttle.
For example, from Anchorage, there’s a direct shuttle, offered by Overflow Transit, to McCarthy on Mondays and Fridays.
Alternatively, you can drive to either the town of Glenallen or Chitina, shortly before McCarthy Road starts, and hop on a shuttle operated by Kennicott Shuttle the rest of the way there.
Flying
Finally, you can always fly to McCarthy.
For example, from Anchorage, Copper Valley Air Services offers flights to McCarthy on Monday and Thursday (year-round), as well as Wednesday and Saturday (only offered June through August).
You would have to book a flight from Anchorage to Glenallen and then, Glenallen on to McCarthy, costing a total of $455 one-way.
Alternatively, you can drive to Chitina and fly from there the rest of the way to McCarthy with Wrangell Mountain Air, costing about $430 roundtrip.
As an added bonus, you kind of get a mini-flightseeing tour while you’re flying to McCarthy, with jaw-dropping views of the Wrangell Mountains, beautiful river braids, and even wildlife, like Dall’s sheep, along the way! We flew in a seaplane while we were getting to Katmai National Park in Alaska and it was SO cool to get to see the state’s epic scenery from thousands of feet in the air!
Getting from the McCarthy Footbridge to McCarthy to Kennicott
As mentioned above, there are no driveable roads to the town, so your trip here doesn’t just end when your car or shuttles makes it to the end of McCarthy Road.
The road actually ends at the Kennicott River, about a mile away from the town McCarthy, so you’ll need to leave your car at one of the lots at the end of the road and cross the river on the footpath.
There’s a handful of lots to choose from, all of which conveniently paint their pricing on their entry signs. We paid $5 to park all day at Base Camp Kennicott.
Once you’ve crossed over the footbridge over the Kennicott River, you can either walk about a mile into town along a flat footpath or, alternatively, catch a ride on one of the shuttles into town.
As mentioned above, there are two shuttle operators in town:
- The Copper Town Shuttle costs $15 for unlimited rides around the McCarthy/Kennicott area and runs every half hour or so. You can buy a shuttle pass at the McCarthy Center Store.
- The Blackburn Heritage Shuttle (or, as the driver introduced himself to us, Five Dollar Dan) costs $5 per ride (cash only!) and runs approximately every hour.
Both of these shuttles also run from McCarthy to Kennicott, so, unless you really like walking miles and miles every day, they’re going to be your best bet to get around the area.
When to visit McCarthy, Alaska
The best time to visit McCarthy is from June through August, when McCarthy Road is cleared of snow, the national park’s hiking trails are relatively ice-free, and the town’s shops and restaurants are open for business. We visited in early August and McCarthy kind of felt like it was already winding down for the season—so I wouldn’t recommend visiting too early or too late in the summertime!
McCarthy has a handful of year-round residents and Wrangell-St. Elias National Park is technically open all year. That being said, pretty much all of the restaurants, hotels, shuttles, and shops close down with McCarthy Road from mid-October through mid-May and you’ll have a pretty tough time getting to and around the park during this timeframe.
I hope you have a blast checking out all of the awesome things to do in McCarthy. It’s definitely one of the quirkiest towns we visited during our trip to Alaska! Do you have any questions about visiting this remote corner of the 49th state? Let us know in the comments below!
