Happy Friday friends! I hope that you are having a lovely day! Today I am excited to continue recap my Alaskan Road Trip Adventures from 2019. As I have shared, I wanted to do this because I hope that it encourages you to consider taking a road trip of your own this summer to this beautiful part of the world!
Today I am so excited to share more about the town of Kennicott in Kennicott Alaska. If you have been following along with the blog for even a short amount of time than you know that it had been a dream of mine for a while to go over to the Kennicott/McCarthy area in the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park so I was so exited to experience the area.
We arrived early Monday evening and had a chance to explore the town of Kennicott on Tuesday morning. We had planned a hike to the Root Glacier in the afternoon so after we ate breakfast we had plenty of time to explore the tiny town of Kennicott. For time reference sake for those who are planning a similar trip we had about an hour...and we really only needed about 30 minutes.
We walked down the hill from the lodge to the small visitors area that overlooked the Kennicott Glacier and also showed a map for those that might be interested in walking to (or taking the shuttle) McCarthy. Overlooking the glacier (I shared about it HERE) was beautiful and we definitely were swept up in the unique beauty that we were witnessing around us.
After spending a bit of time in this area we walked along the road, stopping in to the small gift shop.
At the gift shop I saw this wooden box with the discussion about the times that mail is delivered and taken out. We learned that during the summer the mail is transported two times a week (Monday and Thursday) while during the winter (when there is only 7 people who live in the town) it is just sent out and delivered on Thursdays.
At the gift shop you can walk through the store to the porch that overlooks the town and we saw a different view of the Kennicott Glacier plus a bit of the town. We could also see in the distance the outline of some of the buildings of the Kennecott Mines.
(Curious about the different spellings of Kennicott and Kennecott? Read my post on this HERE!) We decided to make our way to this area and spent a bit of time there and then saw more on our way to Root Glacier.
As you walk along the dirt road you see the old buildings of the mine (which you can tour if you would like) in the distance.
Kennecott has kept many of its original buildings (with some updates) and since 1998 the National Park Service has owned these buildings. The buildings and the land is significant as it remains to be the best example of early 20th century copper mining that exsits in the United States.
In 1978 the historic mining town of Kennecott was listed on the National Register of Historic Placies and was later designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1986.
As we walked along I looked back and snapped this picture. From this angle the buildings looked more brown then red and it felt like you had truly stepped back in time. You can book a tour to walk through the mine and the buildings and to learn more of the history. We opted not to do this and instead explored on our own. A few of the buildings were open for people to walk through even if you didn't have a tour and we spent a tiny bit of time walking through them.
The power plant was really incredible to look at. There was a fire in 1924 so it was rebuilt after that, but it really was so interesting to explore.
After exploring the power plant we walked down the gravel "road" to the house area. While some of the houses still have people living in them (there are 7 people who live in Kennicott full year round and others who rent them for the summer months), there was one that was open to explore. It had been set up a bit like a museum and was just interesting to go through. Hearing the stories of the people that moved to Kennicott during the early part of the decade was fascinating to see. Those young families must have truly bonded together in a unique way being so far removed from civilization as we know it.
Please let me know if you have any questions about Kennicott. It was truly one of the most unique places to visit ever and a once-in-a-lifetime situation I know. I hope that everyone can see it once in your life because it truly is remarkable.
Happy Friday friends! I hope that you have a wonderful weekend!
Want to step forward and plan your trip but not sure how? Check out all of the Alaska Road Trip posts from our trips in 2018 and 2019 which you can find them in the Alaska travel section on my blog by clicking HERE or you can click on the specific links below:
Anchorage: // Hyatt Place Anchorage-Midtown Video // Beluga Point //
// Hyatt Place Anchorage-Midtown// Room 209 Hyatt Place Anchorage-Midtown //
// Anchorage Travel Guide//
Chugach Mountains (Alaska 1-South Drive): // Seward Highway Drive (Turnagain Arm Drive)//
// Along the Matanuska River on Alaska 1-South// A Beautiful Lake Adventure Near Chickaloon//
// A Cloudy & Beautiful Drive on Alaska 1-South//
Chugach Mountains: // Eklutna Lake//
Cooper Landing (Kenai Peninsula): // Kenai Princess Wilderness Lodge Nature Hike//
// Kenai Princess Wilderness Lodge //
Denali State Park Area: //Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge (Pursuit Collection)// Denali Highway Video//
// One Last Adventure on the Denali Highway// The Denali Highway: Part Two //
// The Denali Highway: Part One//
//The Drive to Cantwell// Mt. McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge //
Girdwood: // Winner Creek Trail Video// Winner Creek Trail //
Hatcher Pass Area: // Hatcher Pass Video// Hatcher Pass // Little Susitna River //
Homer (Kenai Peninsula) Area: // Homer Video// Homer Spit// Homer Lighthouse// Bishop's Beach//
// A Brief History of Homer //
Kennicott/McCarthy Area: //Root Glacier Hike //Kennicott // Kennicott Glacier //
// Kennecott vs. Kennicott Spelling // The McCarthy Highway //
// An Unfortunate Review of the Kennicott Glacier Lodge //
Seward: //Holgate Glacier// Kenai Fjords Whale Watching Tour//
//A Beautiful Morning Walk in Seward// An Evening Walk at Seward Windsong Lodge//
//Resurrection Roadhouse Restaurant at Seward Windsong Lodge//
//Seward Windsong Lodge// Room 408 at Seward Windsong Lodge//
Seward Highway Area: //Beluga Point// Scenic Seward Highway Drive (Turnagain Arm Drive)//
Talkeetna: //Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge (Pursuit Collection)//
Thompson Pass Area: // Thompson Pass Area Video // Worthington Glacier Hike//
//Worthington Glacier//
// Among the Alaskan Fireweed on A4-S: A Beautiful Symbol of Hope in the Hard Seasons of Life //
// A Brief History of & Drive on Alaska 4-South of the Richardson Highway//Klutina River//
// The Beginning Drive to Thompson Pass//
Whittier: //3 Things to See and Do in Whittier Port on Your Alaskan Cruise //
// Hyatt Place Anchorage-Midtown// Room 209 Hyatt Place Anchorage-Midtown //
// Anchorage Travel Guide//
Chugach Mountains (Alaska 1-South Drive): // Seward Highway Drive (Turnagain Arm Drive)//
// Along the Matanuska River on Alaska 1-South// A Beautiful Lake Adventure Near Chickaloon//
// A Cloudy & Beautiful Drive on Alaska 1-South//
Chugach Mountains: // Eklutna Lake//
Cooper Landing (Kenai Peninsula): // Kenai Princess Wilderness Lodge Nature Hike//
// Kenai Princess Wilderness Lodge //
Denali State Park Area: //Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge (Pursuit Collection)// Denali Highway Video//
// One Last Adventure on the Denali Highway// The Denali Highway: Part Two //
// The Denali Highway: Part One//
//The Drive to Cantwell// Mt. McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge //
Girdwood: // Winner Creek Trail Video// Winner Creek Trail //
Hatcher Pass Area: // Hatcher Pass Video// Hatcher Pass // Little Susitna River //
Homer (Kenai Peninsula) Area: // Homer Video// Homer Spit// Homer Lighthouse// Bishop's Beach//
// A Brief History of Homer //
Kennicott/McCarthy Area: //Root Glacier Hike //Kennicott // Kennicott Glacier //
// Kennecott vs. Kennicott Spelling // The McCarthy Highway //
// An Unfortunate Review of the Kennicott Glacier Lodge //
Seward: //Holgate Glacier// Kenai Fjords Whale Watching Tour//
//A Beautiful Morning Walk in Seward// An Evening Walk at Seward Windsong Lodge//
//Resurrection Roadhouse Restaurant at Seward Windsong Lodge//
//Seward Windsong Lodge// Room 408 at Seward Windsong Lodge//
Seward Highway Area: //Beluga Point// Scenic Seward Highway Drive (Turnagain Arm Drive)//
Talkeetna: //Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge (Pursuit Collection)//
Thompson Pass Area: // Thompson Pass Area Video // Worthington Glacier Hike//
//Worthington Glacier//
// Among the Alaskan Fireweed on A4-S: A Beautiful Symbol of Hope in the Hard Seasons of Life //
// A Brief History of & Drive on Alaska 4-South of the Richardson Highway//Klutina River//
// The Beginning Drive to Thompson Pass//
Whittier: //3 Things to See and Do in Whittier Port on Your Alaskan Cruise //
//Whittier Tunnel (Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel) //
Wrangell-St. Elias Park Area: //The McCarthy Highway // Copper River Princess Lodge //
Wrangell-St. Elias Park Area: //The McCarthy Highway // Copper River Princess Lodge //
Post a Comment