The McCarthy Road is a gravel-surfaced road that runs from the end of the

Edgerton Highway The Edgerton Highway is a minor highway in the U.S. state of Alaska that extends from the Richardson Highway near Copper Center to the town of Chitina. The McCarthy Road, within the Wrangell-Saint Elias National Park and Preserve, is a exten ...

in Chitina, Alaska, to about outside of

McCarthy, Alaska McCarthy is a census-designated place (CDP) in Copper River Census Area, Alaska, United States. It is in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. The population was 107 at the 2020 census, up from 28 in 2010. Geography and location McCar ...

Route description

McCarthy Road starts at the end of the Edgerton Highway in Chitina. The road is gravel-surfaced, and often very rough with many washboards and sharp turns. The route follows the railbed of the defunct

Copper River and Northwestern Railway The Copper River and Northwestern Railway (CR&NW) consisted of two rail lines, the Copper River line and the Northwestern line. Michael James Heney had secured the right-of-way up the Copper River in 1904. He started building the railway from Co ...

, and utilizes the spectacular Kuskulana Bridge, built in 1910, spanning high above the

Kuskulana River Kuskulana River is a waterway in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is located in the Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve. Geography The stream has its source in Kuskulana Glacier at an elevation of about 2,200 feet. It flows southwes ...

at mile 17. It is one of two roads leading to Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, though it is not part of the park, and gives access to the abandoned

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

mines at Kennecott. The road does not actually lead all the way to Kennecott; visitors must cross the Kennecott River by a

footbridge A footbridge (also a pedestrian bridge, pedestrian overpass, or pedestrian overcrossing) is a bridge designed solely for pedestrians.''Oxford English Dictionary'' While the primary meaning for a bridge is a structure which links "two points at a ...

built in the 1990s. The road is not maintained during winter. The road was the inspiration for the

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

book ''The Road to McCarthy: Around the World in Search of Ireland'' by

Pete McCarthy Peter Charles McCarthy Robinson (9 November 1951 – 6 October 2004) was an English comedian, radio and television presenter and travel writer. He was noted for his best-selling travel books '' McCarthy's Bar'' (2000) and ''The Road to McCarthy' ...

Major intersections

References

External links

{{Attached KML, display=title,inline
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park visitor information

Google map of McCarthy road
Copper River Census Area, Alaska Gravel roads State highways in Alaska Transportation in Unorganized Borough, Alaska Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve