Backpack Trail Guide

Trails / Alaska / Wrangell-St. Elias

Root Glacier Trail and Jumbo Creek Camping Area

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, National Park Service (Kennecott, near McCarthy)

Root Glacier and the Stairway Icefall
“Root Glacier and the Stairway Icefall” by National Park Service (Neal Herbert) , Public domain · Source

The Root Glacier Trail leaves the historic Kennecott Mill Town in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and follows the edge of the Root Glacier toward the Stairway Icefall. About 2 miles from the visitor center, near where Jumbo Creek comes down from the mountains, the Park Service maintains a primitive camping area with bear-resistant food boxes and an outhouse.

The NPS rates the trail easy to moderate, and the camp makes a base for day hikes to old mines.

The hike

Getting there is part of the trip. The NPS says Kennecott is reached from McCarthy, at the end of the McCarthy Road, by walking the road between them (an extra 4.5 miles), taking a commercial shuttle, or riding a bike.

The NPS Root Glacier/Erie Mine Trail handout describes the route. From the Kennecott Visitor Center, walk north through the mill town toward the Root Glacier. About half a mile past the visitor center, the road splits; the other branch leads to the Jumbo and Bonanza Mines. The trail soon crosses Bonanza Creek and Jumbo Creek. The NPS rates it easy to moderate, with relatively level terrain and moderate elevation gain and loss, and lists glacier viewing, mining artifacts, and views of Mount Blackburn, Regal Mountain, and Donoho Peak as highlights.

The NPS Donoho Basin handout says that after about another quarter mile, the trail reaches the Root Glacier access trail, where primitive campsites, an outhouse, and food lockers are available. A sign marks the fork. Turning left leads down the moraine to the toe of the glacier. The NPS handout lists the round trip from Kennecott to the glacier at 4 miles.

The NPS warns that the trail is not a route to the Erie Mine. The primitive trail continues alongside the Root Glacier for about 4 miles one way from Kennecott and ends where cables from the Erie Mine descend from the hillside, with the Stairway Icefall looming close. But in fall 2023, the NPS reported that a landslide washed out a significant portion of that trail several miles in.

Day hikes from the camping area lead into mining history. The NPS lists the Jumbo Mine Trail as a strenuous day hike to panoramic views and the remains of the Jumbo Mine bunkhouse. Its Kennecott map says the Jumbo hike can seem harder than the Bonanza Mine trail because of a wet creek crossing half a mile from the junction.

Longer trips from here require more skill. The NPS says continuing across the Root Glacier to Erie Lake, or into Donoho Basin between the Root and Kennicott Glaciers, requires glacier travel experience and equipment. Indigo Alpine Guides adds that from McCarthy, backpackers generally head east toward Nikolai Pass or north across the Root Glacier toward Glacier Gulch.

The NPS is emphatic about food storage. Throughout the park, it says, all food, beverages, garbage, and cooking gear must be stored in a bear-resistant container or a hard-sided building or vehicle. Its Kennecott map advises cooking and storing all food at least 100 yards from your tent.

For another Alaska trip rich in mining history, see the Chilkoot Trail (U.S. side).

Tips

Camping

The NPS says primitive campsites, an outhouse, and food lockers are available near the Root Glacier access trail, in what its map calls the Jumbo Creek Camping Area. The NPS lists two bear-resistant food boxes in the Jumbo Creek area. It says campers are still required to use an approved bear-resistant food container, and Indigo Alpine Guides says you can rent one from the park for free. Talk with a ranger at the Kennecott Visitor Center about current conditions.

Inside Intel: We didn’t find camper accounts recommending particular sites here. From the NPS descriptions, the Jumbo Creek camping area is the easy overnight, about 2 miles from Kennecott with toilets and food boxes, per the NPS. From camp, you can walk to the toe of the Root Glacier the same evening and head up to the Jumbo or Bonanza Mines the next day. If you have glacier skills and gear, Indigo Alpine Guides points to routes across the Root Glacier toward Glacier Gulch, but those go well beyond this trail.

Trail facts

The Lowdown

Jumbo Creek camp below the Root Glacier:

The Jumbo Creek Camping Area has primitive sites about 2 miles from Kennecott. If sleeping on your side leaves you sore by morning, these tips cover pads, pillows, and bags.

See the tips →

Where this comes from

This page draws on the sources below, along with other guides and trip reports. Links go to the original pages.

Before you go: This page is based on published trail guides, trip reports, and reviews, along with official park and agency information where we could find it. It’s meant to help backpackers discover new trails, not to replace current, official information. Conditions, closures, permits, campsites, and water sources change, and some details here may be out of date or wrong. Confirm everything with the managing agency and check current conditions before you head out, and don’t rely on this page alone for safety or navigation. Backcountry travel involves risk.