#8 of 22 sights in Wrangell-St. Elias
Sight · Wrangell-St. Elias National Park
Historic one-lane trestle over a dizzying glacial river canyon
Overview
Kuskulana Bridge is the classic white‑knuckle highlight along the McCarthy Road—a single‑lane, steel trestle perched about 238 feet above the silty Kuskulana River. Built in 1910 for the CRNW railroad to Kennecott, it’s a compact stop with big drama and an easy way to feel the scale of this landscape without a long hike. Mile 17.2–17.3 is your mark.
Map
Local know-how
Park in the gravel pullouts on either side—don’t stop on the span.
Use the east‑end wayside for restrooms and interpretive panels.
For photos, come early or late; a polarizer reduces glare on the silty river.
Fuel up and bring a full‑size spare—services and cell coverage are scarce.
Allow about 2 hours each way for the McCarthy Road drive and go slow.
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Wrangell-St. Elias Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Wrangell-St. Elias audio tourRecorded for this place
Crossing the Historic Kuskulana Bridge“You're about to cross the Kuskulana Bridge, a major landmark on this drive. It's the original, one-lane railroad trestle from 1910, and it sits nearly 240 feet above the river.”
Plays as you drive up to Kuskulana Bridge in the Parkwolf Wrangell-St. Elias Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
Walk out from the pullouts and look straight down into a narrow, sheer‑walled canyon carved into hard metamorphic bedrock. The river’s coffee‑colored flow isn’t dirty; it’s glacial “rock flour” washing off Mt. Blackburn’s ice. Interpretive panels explain the bridge’s history and the region’s glacier‑fed rivers.
The McCarthy Road runs from Chitina about 60 miles to the Kennicott River footbridge. It’s unpaved, narrow, and can be potholed or washboarded. Fuel up before you go, bring a full‑size spare and jack, and expect limited cell service. Take it slow and respect private land along the way.
The safest, widest perspectives come from the signed pullouts and the east‑end wayside. Early and late light adds texture to the canyon walls; a polarizer helps tame glare off the silty water.
Engineers anchored the trestle into the inner gorge’s bedrock rather than the loose glacial gravels near the surface—one big reason it has endured more than a century of harsh conditions.
If you’re exploring farther, the Gilahina Trestle (mile 29) makes a fascinating companion stop, and the Crystalline Hills area (mile 34.8) is a known spot to glass distant slopes for bright‑white Dall sheep. End‑of‑road logistics funnel to parking at the Kennicott River footbridge for access to McCarthy and Kennecott.
Wildlife
112 sightingsGrizzly BearMost seen around 9 PMSighting map
63 sightingsMooseMost seen around 8 PMSighting map
21 sightingsHumpback WhaleMost seen around 1 PMSighting map
46 sightingsSteller Sea LionMost seen around 11 AMSighting map
37 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 8 PMSighting map
48 sightingsBald EagleMost seen around 5 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Wrangell-St. Elias. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
Parkwolf’s Wrangell-St. Elias ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
