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Start at 1. Kennecott Visitor Center

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Free audio tour6 stories

Kennecott Mill Town, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska

A half-mile walk through Kennecott, the copper company town of 1900 to 1938: the school, the Recreation Hall, the store, the railroad and National Creek, the red concentration mill and the power plant, with the Kennicott Glacier beside you.

11 min of audio · 0 miles · Read the transcript

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    Getting started

    1. Start in the right placeThis tour begins at Kennecott Visitor Center. Start at the trailhead; the first story plays when you arrive.
    2. Let's hear itUse headphones or the phone speaker at a comfortable volume. Download the tour while you still have signal.
    3. Stories meet you thereYour phone's location starts each story automatically. Music flows straight into the narration. Keep this page open; it keeps the screen awake for GPS.
    4. You're ready to exploreNo cars reach Kennecott. Drive the McCarthy Road (59 miles of narrow gravel; most rental companies don't allow it) to the Kennicott River footbridge, park (free day parking at the McCarthy Road Information Station, mile 58.6, or paid lots), walk across, then take a private summer shuttle (fee) or walk or bike the 5 miles to Kennecott. In winter there are no shuttles or services. Download the tour before the McCarthy Road; don't count on a signal. Press Start at the Kennecott Visitor Center (old Blackburn School, open late May to mid-September) and walk the road through town to the power plant, under half a mile. Much of town is private: stay on the road, keep off decks and stairs. The mill's inside is open only on the concession's paid tour. No park entrance fee. Bear country.

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    Facts from the National Park Service: the Kennecott self-guided walking tour (2022), the Kennecott Mines brochure, the bulletin "The Kennecott Story", and the Kennecott Mines National Historic Landmark, Kennecott Visitor Center, directions, hours and fees pages. Map and route © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Music: Beethoven, Symphony No. 3 "Eroica", II. Marcia funebre, Musopen Symphony (Czech National Symphony Orchestra), 2012, public domain via Wikimedia Commons. Narration is AI-generated. Not an official National Park Service product.