Smile Across America
At Alaska’s Root Glacier, a practical piece of community work has reopened a way for visitors to reach one of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve’s signature landscapes.
Earlier this summer, park geologists found unstable ground and a possible landslide area on the moraine beside the Root Glacier access trail north of the Kennecott Mines National Historic Landmark. The National Park Service closed that section in July and began looking for a safer way around it.
By August 3, park employees and local volunteers had established a new route. The work did not erase the hazard—the original area remains closed—but it did give visitors a way to continue toward the glacier while avoiding the unstable slope and the risk of falling rock.
That distinction is what makes the update feel quietly generous. The new path is not a shortcut, nor a promise that mountain terrain will stand still. It is a route made with care for the people who come after: families, first-time visitors, longtime hikers and the neighbors who help keep this enormous park welcoming.
A route built for the people behind it
The Park Service says trail crews brushed vegetation and improved the walking surface where practical. The reroute begins 1.8 miles along the Erie Mine Trail: visitors go roughly ten yards beyond the Amazon Creek footbridge, turn left, then travel downhill about 0.6 miles to the glacier’s edge. In all, the route is about 2.5 miles one way to glacier access.
Acting Superintendent Joshua Scott credited staff and volunteers for moving quickly to create the alternative. That is the people-first heart of this story: a group of workers and local helpers responding to a changing landscape with a useful, shared answer.
Root Glacier is one of the park’s most visited destinations, and the new route preserves an experience many people travel a long way to have. The original closure, meanwhile, remains important. It is a reminder that a better route is also one that respects the forces already at work in glacial country.
Keep the welcome practical
Visitors should expect uneven footing. The Park Service describes the route beyond the improved section as natural terrain with rocky glacial debris and muddy areas near the glacier’s edge. It recommends traction devices for anyone planning to step onto the ice and advises putting them on before reaching the steep glacier access point.
Conditions in glacier and moraine landscapes can change quickly, so hikers should stay on the designated route, follow closure signs and check current conditions with the park or at the Kennecott Visitor Center before setting out.
There is no grand ribbon-cutting in this story—just a closed route, people willing to do the careful work, and a new way forward. In a place shaped by moving ice and loose rock, that is a welcome worth noticing.
Leave a Reply