Tebay Lake, AK

Tebay Lake Airstrip is a remote, unregistered backcountry strip deep in the Eastern Chugach Mountains of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Alaska.

On the ground, the strip is modest by any measure — a roughly 1,000-foot turf runway with no FAA identifier, sitting at about 1,900 feet elevation. Pilots monitor 122.9 for traffic. It lies approximately 50 miles southwest of McCarthy, which serves as the nearest hub for air taxi and charter services, with a typical bush plane flight between the two taking around 45 minutes.

The surrounding landscape is what draws people in. The Tebay Lakes chain fills a sweeping mountain valley with a series of deep, blue-green alpine lakes framed by glaciers, rocky peaks rising to 7,000 feet and beyond, and rolling tundra meadows. Despite its beauty, the area remains relatively unknown outside of local pilots, guides, and serious wilderness travelers — which is a large part of its appeal.

The strip functions as both a drop-off and pickup point for a wide variety of backcountry pursuits across all seasons. Summer visitors come for fishing, packrafting, kayaking, and base camping. In late winter and spring, ski-plane-equipped Super Cubs use the lake ice and surrounding terrain as a staging ground for glacier skiing. For the most experienced wilderness travelers, Tebay serves as the endpoint of some of the longest and most demanding traverse routes in the park — multi-day expeditions involving glacier crossings, off-trail navigation, and serious route-finding through one of the most remote corners of the American wilderness.