Wrangell: McCarthy vs Nabesna?

[blob_99]

I'm planning to head to Wrangell St. Elias area in late August. I've been once before and came in via McCarthy road. I would happily do that again as I enjoyed the drive and what I was able to access from that point. However, I'm wondering if I should try Nabesna this time.

Overall, I'm looking for what will get me access to better hiking and better scenery. I'd love to hear from people who've done both, which one do you prefer?

 

[NRick]

I'd say scenery wise they are similar. I haven't hiked a lot of trails off either road so I couldn't say which has better hiking. You will see a lot less people on the Nabesna road, however. At the end of the McCarthy road you have the town of McCarthy and the Kennecott mine (owned by the NPS) along with various businesses that cater to tourists. At the end of the Nabesna road is the abandoned Nabesna mine that is private property and checking out the mine is trespassing. Devils Mountain Lodge is near the end of the Nabesna road and one of the few businesses on that road.

Both roads can be rough but McCarthy is better maintained. Also, Nabesna road has several creeks that flow across it. After heavy rains these can make the road impassible.

 

[iofthetaiga]

NRick pretty well summed it up. Be warry of the stream crossings! Bring a handyman jack, rope-along, shovel etc., and if you encounter any ugly mudholes toward the upper end of the road, better to just turn around and come back another day rather than getting stuck, tearing things up and making it worse. The Nebesna mine site isn't all that interesting anyway, and it's a seriously toxic mess, so it's no great loss to stay away from it. There are some nice campsites along the Nebesna Road, and some good berry picking potential, too. All the hikes I'm aware of/have done are "unimproved", and the geology tends to be pretty aggressively abrasive and hard on footwear.

 

[kpendelight]

We went to nabesna a few years ago and the scenery is pretty awesome. We did some hiking and four wheeling but primarily wanted to stay on the machines. There were a plethora of trails, although, I remember a few of the ones we really wanted to go on being closed. I'm not sure of the status of them now. I'm sure you could hike up the trails we took the machines on but a lot of them went up river beds and rocky areas that I really wouldn't recommend hiking up. Soda lake was really cool, we four wheeled for most of it then hiked a mile or two to the lake. Skookum volcano is an awesome one you can get to on foot. My impression of the area is that a lot of it is easily accessible by atv and has longer trails but there's not a lot for day hikes. So i guess I'm just saying you may not have the best experience in nabesna unless you bring a pack and some motivation or have an atv.

But you will definitely get more peace and solitude in nabesna/slana area than you would at maccarthy from what I've heard about it. I guess it just depends what kind of an experience you want. I know what I'd choose, even if I didn't have access to an atv!

 

[stillapa12drvr]

I'm a bit biased...I own property (for now) in McCarthy and am not, generally, impressed with McCarthy / Kennecott. The surrounding areas are more or less equivalent in terms of scenery all of which is spectacular...after the "end of the road", you'll have (strictly anecdotally and opinion) perhaps easier access to trails and country at Kennecott than Nabesna....but there are more tourists in McCarthy / Kennecott; and I use that term advisedly: not just more "people" but tourists and a more "touristy" environment. Not that that is necessarily bad, but, IMO, both McCarthy and Kennecott (albeit to a lesser degree) try hard to be the modern concept of a "mountain town" with bars, tokes, and partying often supplanting or being at least equal to any wilderness experience. FWIW, McCarthy tends to shut down by mid-August (as does Chitina with a few exceptions). Nabesna probably "shuts down" by mid-August, but how can one tell?

Were it me, if I were camping (i.e. backpacking, carrying my own food, etc), I'd choose the Nabesna side. If it were me, I'd probably spend a few days just on the road to Nabesna without necessarily "going beyond", do some daytime strolls, truck camp, park near the stream that is overflowing the road, have a fire and a nice-ish meal, move on the next day. Take a spare, a handyman jack, a bottle jack (for changing the flat that occurs on the good road), good bug stuff, and your camera.