#simpson hill

Forest (No. 559)

Simpson Hill, AK (seven pics)

Forest (No. 558)

Forest (No. 560)

Simpson Hill, AK (No. 4)

On the southeast the park is bounded by Yakutat Bay, Tongass National Forest and the Gulf of Alaska. The remainder of the southern boundary follows the crest of the Chugach Mountains, adjoining Chugach National Forest. The western boundary is the Copper River, and the northern boundary follows the Mentasta Mountains and borders Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge.

Mount St. Elias is situated on the border between Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Kluane National Park and Reserve. At 18,008 feet (5,489 m), it is the second-highest mountain in both Canada and the United States. Nine of the 16 highest peaks on U.S. soil are located in the park, along with North America's largest subpolar icefield, glaciers, rivers, an active volcano, and the historic Kennecott copper mines. Both the St. Elias and Wrangell ranges have seen volcanic activity. The St. Elias volcanoes are considered extinct, but some of the volcanoes of the Wrangell Range have been active in Holocene time. Ten separate volcanoes have been documented in the western Wrangell Range, of which Mount Blackburn is the highest and Mount Wrangell is the most recently active.

Forest (No. 557)

Simpson Hill, AK (No. 3)

Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve includes the entire Wrangell range, the western portion of the Saint Elias Mountains and the eastern portion of the Chugach Mountains. Lesser ranges in the park or preserve include the Nutzotin Mountains, which are an extension of the Alaska Range, the Granite Range and the Robinson Mountains. Broad rivers run in glacial valleys between the ranges, including the Chitina River, Chisana River and the Nabesna River. All but the Chisana and Nabesna are tributaries to the Copper River, which flows along the western margin of the park and which has its headwaters within the park, at the Copper Glacier. The park includes dozens of glaciers and icefields. The Bagley Icefield covers portions of the St. Elias and Chugach ranges, and Malaspina Glacier covers most of the southeastern extension of the park, with Hubbard Glacier at the park's extreme eastern boundary, the largest tidewater glacier in North America. The eastern boundary of the park is Alaska's border with Canada, where it is adjoined by Kluane National Park and Reserve.

Simpson Hill, AK (No. 2)

The park and preserve were established in 1980 by the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, following its designation as Wrangell–St. Elias National Monument on December 1, 1978, by President Jimmy Carter using the Antiquities Act, pending final legislation to resolve the allotment of public lands in Alaska. The protected areas are included in an International Biosphere Reserve and are part of the Kluane/Wrangell–St. Elias/Glacier Bay/Tatshenshini-Alsek UNESCO World Heritage Site, which includes the Canada's Kluane National Park and Reserve to the east and Glacier Bay National Park to the south.

The park and preserve form the largest area managed by the National Park Service with a total of 13,175,799.07 acres (20,587.19 sq mi; 53,320.57 km2), an expanse larger than nine U.S. states and around the same size as Croatia. 8,323,147.59 acres (13,004.92 sq mi; 33,682.58 km2) are designated as the national park, and the remaining 4,852,652.14 acres (7,582.27 sq mi; 19,637.99 km2) are designated as the preserve; the chief distinction between park and preserve lands is that sport hunting is prohibited in the park and permitted in the preserve. The area designated as the national park alone is larger than the 47 smallest American national parks (out of 63) combined, and it is over 43 million times larger than Gateway Arch National Park, the smallest American national park. In addition, 9,078,675 acres (14,185.430 sq mi; 36,740.09 km2), or about two-thirds of the park and preserve, are designated as the Wrangell–St. Elias Wilderness, the largest single wilderness area in the United States.

Simpson Hill, AK (No. 1)

Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve is a United States national park and preserve in south central Alaska. The park, the largest in the United States, covers the Wrangell Mountains and a large portion of the Saint Elias Mountains, which include most of the highest peaks in the United States and Canada, yet are within 10 miles (16 km) of tidewater, one of the highest reliefs in the world. The park's high point is Mount Saint Elias at 18,008 feet (5,489 m), the second tallest mountain in both the United States and Canada. The park has been shaped by the competing forces of volcanism and glaciation, with its tall mountains uplifted by plate tectonics. Mount Wrangell and Mount Churchill are among major volcanos in these ranges. The park's glacial features include Malaspina Glacier, the largest piedmont glacier in North America, Hubbard Glacier, the longest tidewater glacier in Alaska, and Nabesna Glacier, the world's longest valley glacier. The Bagley Icefield covers much of the park's interior, which includes 60% of the permanently ice-covered terrain in Alaska. At the center of the park and preserve, the boomtown of Kennecott exploited one of the world's richest deposits of copper from 1903 to 1938. The abandoned mine buildings and mills comprise a National Historic Landmark district.