Wrangell-St. Elias: The largest national park in the US.

My name is Jim Feldkamp, and in line with my passion to photograph nature, I’ve made it my solemn duty to see as many national parks I can see before I die. And while each national park is unforgettable in its own way, there’s one park that made me feel as small and as insignificant as I’ve ever been – the Wrangell-St. Elias national park.

The Wrangell-St. Elias park is the biggest in the United States, which is saying a lot given the sizes of the mammoth parks in the country. At over a whopping 13 million acres, Wrangell-St. Elias is six times bigger than Yellowstone. Yeah, let that sink in.

The park itself is 8 million acres, while the preserve is 5 million acres. Another way to describe its immensity is to say Wrangell-St. Elias is as big as Switzerland, Yellowstone, and Yosemite. Not bad for a park that’s home to two active volcanoes – Mt. Wrangell and Mt. Churchill.

The wildlife is incredibly diverse in Wrangell-St. Elias, which is natural for a park this size. Visitors can spot all sorts of animals, from the Alaskan moose to black and grizzly bears to bison. It also has the highest population of Dall sheep (13,000) in North America, something I included in the Jim Feldkamp book of facts!

The park reaches the coast wherein hikers can see whales, harbor seals, and sea lions. The fish population is pretty diverse as well with lamprey, salmon, grayling, coho, and trout being some of the species.

And to round out the wildlife, there are 93 species of birds during the non-winter months. However, there are only 24 when the temperature starts to drop.

Hello! Jim Feldkamp’s the name. As a nature photographer, I love hiking a lot. For more about the stuff I love, check out this page.