Wrangell Mountain Air Flight Review to Wrangell-St. Elias National Park Alaska

If you want to visit Wrangell-St. Elias National Park in Alaska, the fastest and easiest way to do it is to hop on a Wrangell Mountain Air flight!

On our road trip to Alaska, we wanted to see as many of the National Parks as we could. We knew we couldn’t visit them all – we only had two weeks and if you’ve done any research about visiting all of Alaska’s National Parks, you know that some of them are very expensive and difficult to visit, as they are not accessible by roads.

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park is accessible via the McCarthy road, but rental cars are not allowed, as it is not well-maintained, and you’ll likely get a chipped windshield and a flat tire or two. If you want to visit via the McCarthy road, you’ll have to rent a vehicle from a specialty rental company (which is quite expensive), or you can take a bus tour.

Or – you can fly there. Which is what we did.

We took a round-trip flight from Chitina, Alaska via Wrangell Mountain Air. We had reservations at the Kennicott Glacier Lodge for one night. The flight isn’t exactly cheap (round trip, it’s $320/per person), but it saves you a lot of time and headache; the McCarthy Road is only 60 miles long, but it will take you two to five hours one way depending on road conditions. Whereas, the flight is only 30 minutes – and it’s incredibly scenic!

Additionally, we had a buy-one-get-one free coupon by purchasing the Alaska Tour Saver coupon book. Their coupons offerings change every year, so your mileage may vary. I highly recommend this coupon book if you’re doing an Alaskan road trip. It saved us hundreds of dollars on excursions and lodging!

The Chitina airport is just a bare strip of land. There is no TSA, there is no building, and no need to arrive two+ hours before your flight. There’s a parking lot, where you can leave your vehicle for free, and an outhouse. You basically sit there and wait for your plane – easy-peasy!

Packing for a Wrangell Mountain Air trip

This is a bush plane flight, so you have to pack light – you will not be able to bring your large suitcase! We each brought a backpack with our clothes and toiletries, a camera bag, and another small bag with snacks and drinks. We had to leave everything else inside our SUV for the night – I asked someone at Wrangell Mountain Air about vehicle break-ins at the airstrip, and she said crime is non-existent here, so I felt much better.

When you land in McCarthy, you’ll have to arrange transportation to your lodging or to Kennicott mine. The Kennicott Lodge shuttle van was waiting for us when we arrived – we informed them of our arrival time ahead of time. You will want to do the same with your hotel.

Flight schedule

Wrangell Mountain Air typically has three flights daily leaving from Chitnia to McCarthy and vice versa. You can do this as a day trip instead of spending the night in McCarthy or the Kennicott lodge – take the earliest departure flight and the final flight of the day – a few groups in our mine tour were doing this. I’ll warn you that while it’s do-able, it’s risky due to the unpredictable Alaska weather and you’re really pressed for time – you can only realistically do one activity in Wrangell St. Elias for your time there (likely the mine tour).

Weather Delays

Weather-related bush plane flight delays and cancellations are an issue in Alaska. Hey, it rains A LOT. We experienced delays/cancellations with our other bush plane tours on this trip – the bear viewing in Homer, and the K2 Aviation Denali glacier landing tour out of Talkeetna.

We were worried our Wrangell Mountain Air flight would suffer the same fate on our return flight, as it was raining the morning of our departure, but we had an on-time departure and smooth flight. Give yourself flexibility in your itinerary to account for any delays. We did not schedule any tours until we arrived in Kennecott itself.

Wrangell Mountain Air – is it safe?

Absolutely! Do not be scared of the bush planes! Bush plane transportation is a way of life in Alaska and they’re a ton of fun. The scenery is simply amazing. However, I can understand if you have doubts. We did – in fact, there was a terrible K2 Aviation plane crash involving tourists just one day after we were supposed to fly with them. Our glacier landing flight was cancelled due to weather, and the next day, a fatal crash occurred. This did put us on edge (we were shaken for days after hearing the news, and to this day it’s still unnerving) but we pressed on, knowing that these accidents are rare, despite it hitting a little too close to home. The Wrangell Mountain Air pilots made everyone feel safe.

Wrangell Mountain Air – Pros and Cons

Pros:
Quick, easy way to visit McCarthy, Kennecott and Wrangell St. Elias National Park
Beautiful scenery
Amazing pilots
Airstrip in Chitina is safe and has free overnight parking

Cons:
A bush plane ride can be unnerving for some folks
Expensive
Risk of weather-related delays
Cannot bring your entire suitcase worth of stuff!

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