Kennicott Glacier Lodge

Rich Kirkwood bought land in the historic Kennicott mill town in 1986 and opened Kennicott Glacier Lodge the following summer, in 1987. Nearly four decades later it is still family owned and operated by Rich and Jody Kirkwood and their daughters Christina and Katherine — the only lodge in Kennicott itself, deep inside Wrangell–St. Elias National Park, 314 miles east of Anchorage.

The original 12-room lodge grew with a 1993 addition of ten rooms, a larger dining room, and a lobby, and the South Wing with private baths followed in phases in 2004 and 2016. Glacier hiking and ice climbing on Root Glacier, flightseeing, alpine hiking, and rafting all start right across the street, beside the Kennicott Copper Mine National Historic Landmark.