Hot Spring On Twelvemile Creek
This backcountry hot spring flows within North America's largest national park, where massive glaciers cascade from ice-clad peaks in a landscape of almost incomprehensible scale. Water designated simply as warm in historical records, it sits at 2,937 feet elevation in a national park with open public access and permanent protection.
The spring emerges on Twelvemile Creek in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, surrounded by towering peaks and active glaciers. At 2,937 feet elevation, approximately 30 miles from the nearest tractor trail, the spring flows through alpine terrain where glaciers dominate the landscape and valleys plunge thousands of feet below mountain summits. The environment combines high-altitude mountain features with subalpine vegetation zones.
This hot spring formed through geothermal activity within Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, the largest unit in America's national park system encompassing 13.2 million acres. The park protects pristine wilderness, mountains, glaciers, and valleys shaped by ongoing geological and glacial processes. The spring demonstrates geothermal activity within a landscape dominated by Quaternary glaciation and tectonic mountain building.
Access requires serious backcountry travel; the spring sits more than 30 miles from a tractor trail with no vehicle access. The park offers open public access year-round under permanent protection in natural state. Annual precipitation reaches 66 inches with 354 inches of snow and average annual air temperature of 29.2°F. Visitors must be completely self-sufficient and prepared for extreme alpine conditions.
Is Hot Spring On Twelvemile Creek worth visiting?
Best for
- Backpacking adventures
Not ideal for
- Day trips with young children