Fees & Passes

Key Information

1. Parking/transportation fees are possible

   You may need to pay for parking, or for a shuttle, ferry, or other transportation while visiting the park.

   More about parking/transportation fees

2. Plan to go cashless

   This park does not accept cash.

Since it is a Fee Free Park, annual park passes are not available for sale. Visit the website to purchase Federal passes needed to enter other national parks in the United States: https://www.nps.gov/planyourvisit/passes.htm

Fee Free Park: Visitors can access the Headquarters Visitor Center in Copper Center in summer (mid-May through mid-September). Gate open for day use only 9 am - 5 pm. Access to Nabesna Road and McCarthy Road open year-round, weather dependent. Summer can have heavy rains and impassable streams. Fall - Winter - Spring can have deep snow after storms. The gravel park roads are owned and maintained by the Alaska State Dept of Transportation - grading in summer and snow plowing in winter are infrequent. Parking and camping fees are possible at privately owned businesses permitted to operate in the park. --There is private overnight parking and camping for a fee at mile 60 at the Kennicott River Bridge, 1/2 mile west of McCarthy town.

2025 Free Entrance Days in the National Parks

Come experience the national parks! All National Park Service sites that charge an entrance fee will offer free admission to everyone (other fees, including timed entry or reservation fees, may apply). Mark your calendar for these entrance fee-free dates:

• Thursday, January 9 — National Day of Mourning for President James Earl Carter Jr.
• Monday, January 20 — Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
• Saturday, April 19 — First Day of National Park Week
• Thursday, June 19 — Juneteenth National Independence Day
• Monday, August 4 — Anniversary of the Great American Outdoors Act
• Saturday, September 27 — National Public Lands Day
• Tuesday, November 11 — Veterans Day

 

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve is one of the National Park Service sites that does NOT charge an entrance fee. There is no entry gate to enter the park on either of the two park roads, Nabesna Road (in the north) and McCarthy Road (in the center). The Visitor Centers are open in summer, closed in winter (October - April). The entrance gate at the visitor center in Copper Center closes at 5pm year-round.

Because we do not charge an entrance fee, Wrangell-St. Elias visitor centers do not sell or issue federal land passes.

 

America the Beautiful- The National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass Series

If you are planning a trip that includes visits to several national parks with entrance fees, you may want to obtain a federal land pass. These passes cover entrance and standard amenity fees for a driver and all passengers in a personal vehicle at per vehicle fee areas (or up to four adults at sites that charge per person). Their are a variety of passes including: Annual Pass, Military Pass, Senior Pass, Access, Pass, or Volunteer Pass. (Golden Access and Golden Age Passes are no longer sold, but will continue to be honored according to the provisions of the pass.) For information about these passes, visit the America the Beautiful Land Pass Series webpage.

Federal land passes can be purchased only at parks that have an entrance fee or online at several websites including the USGS store. Please be aware that America the Beautiful passes are not valid for parks in Canada or any other country. They are valid for US federal sites only.