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Chistochina began as an Ahtna Athabaskan fish
camp and a stopover place for traders and trappers. SPARKS GENERAL STORE
The village access road later became part of the
Valdez-Eagle Trail, constructed by miners during Alaska’s One-Stop Shop for Everything—and Then Some
the gold rush to the Eagle area in 1897. Chistochina
Lodge was built as a roadhouse for prospectors. The Women in Business you don’t have to deal with other people’s kids
Trail was used for construction of U.S. Army Signal anymore,” she jokes.
Corps telegraph lines from Valdez to Eagle between Alice A Little Bit of Everything
1901 and 1904. What exactly does Sparks General Store carry?
The better question might be—what doesn’t it? With
inventory ranging from electronics and groceries to
AT SLANA toys, towels, housewares, blankets, sleeping bags,
JCT. TOK CUT OFF 1 & NABESNA ROAD and even fishing gear, it’s a place where locals and
visitors alike can find exactly what they didn’t know
TO WRANGELL-ST. ELIAS they needed. In the summer months, the store
becomes a pit stop for tourists heading out to fish,
Slana camp, or explore the Alaskan wilderness. “We’ve
got what you need for the outdoors: sleeping bags,
Location: At the head of the Nabesna Road on fishing gear, snacks—you name it.”
Glenn Highway #1/Tok Cut-off; 65 miles south And despite the wild and remote setting, the
of Tok and 60 miles north of Glennallen. most popular item? “Cell phone chargers,” Cherie
From reindeer sausage pizza to cell phone laughs. “People are out in the wilds of Alaska, but
chargers, this family-run general store in Glennallen, they want to charge their phones.”
The area along the Nabesna Road offers good Alaska has been serving the community with heart Pizza, Ice Cream, and Homemade Love
fishing and hiking and provides access to Wrangell-St and resourcefulness since 1997. But Sparks General Store is perhaps best known
Elias National Park. Information is available from the When you walk into Sparks General Store, it’s for its made-to-order pizza—featuring toppings
National Park Service Ranger Station at Slana. not just the aroma of fresh pizza or the sight of like Alaskan reindeer sausage—and its ice cream
homemade ice cream sandwiches that grabs your sandwiches, lovingly crafted by Cherie. “I bake
all the cookies—chocolate chip, molasses, lemon,
Wrangell-St. Elias attention—it’s the sheer range of things you can blueberry cheesecake—and fill them with soft-serve
find. Nestled in a small Alaskan town, the store isn’t
National Park and Preserve just a retail space. It’s a local landmark, a traveler’s vanilla or chocolate ice cream,” she says.
The combination of savory and sweet keeps
haven, and a beloved community hub all rolled into
Wrangell-St. Elias is located in the extreme one. customers coming back—and lingering. “People will
southeast corner of the state along the Alaska/Yukon Owned and operated by Cherie and her husband say, ‘I stopped in to grab something, and now I’ve
been here for two hours.’ And I just say, ‘Yep, that
boundary and is bordered in part on the west by Jim, the store has been in business for nearly 30 happens!’”
years. What began as a small operation in the corner
Richardson Hwy #4, Edgerton Hwy #10 and Tok of her parents’ former hobby and Radio Shack shop Steady and Strong in Small-Town Alaska
Cutoff/Glenn Hwy #1. The region is characterized by has since grown into a 50,000-square-foot treasure In a world of big-box stores and online shopping,
remote mountains and valleys, gigantic glaciers, wild trove. Sparks General Store remains rooted in community
rivers, and an abundant variety of wildlife. Together A Store Born from a Need and the store is exactly the right size for what it
with the three contiguous preserves of Glacier Bay “We started the store because there was a need,” needs to be: accessible, inviting, and full of surprises.
When asked what it takes to keep a business
National Park, Tatshenshini-Alsek Provincial Park, says Cherie. “We didn’t want people to have to going for 30 years, Cherie replied, “Well, you got
and Kluane National Park, this United Nations drive all the way to Anchorage just to get something to work, you got to do something, so you just work
basic. So we became that in-between place—if you
designated World Heritage Site encompasses over forgot something or left it somewhere, we’ve got hard and keep going.”
24 million acres, the largest internationally protected you covered.” That simple but powerful attitude is part of
terrestrial ecosystem on the planet. Before opening the store, Cherie drove a school what makes Sparks General Store more than a
The Chugach, Wrangell, and St. Elias mountain bus for 17 years. While that job came with its own place to shop. It’s a local legacy—fueled by home-
ranges converge here with the eastern end of the Alaska rewards, she’s the first to admit that running a baked cookies, small-town heart, and the kind of
Range in what is often referred to as the “mountain store is a welcome change of pace. “Let’s just say, everything-you-need spirit that defines Alaska.
kingdom of North America.” A day’s drive from
Anchorage, the biggest National Park in the country
encompasses the continent’s largest assemblage of
glaciers and nine of the sixteen highest peaks in the
US. At over 18,000 feet, Mount St. Elias is second in
height only to Denali, while Mt. Wrangell is one of
the largest active volcanoes in North America. One of
many, the Malaspina Glacier flows out of the St. Elias
range in a mass larger than Rhode Island; trees sprout
and grow to maturity in the silt on top of the glacier.
Only two roads lead directly into the park: Nabesna
Road, a 45-mile gravel road that begins at Slana, and
the Edgerton Hwy/McCarthy Road, which is accessed
from the Richardson Hwy, 81 miles north of Valdez.
The Park has six visitor contact points staffed by
professional interpretive rangers who can assist with a
variety of services. The Wrangell-St. Elias NP Visitor
Center is located at Mile 106.8 on the Richardson
Hwy #4 between Glennallen and Copper Center;
phone: (907) 822-7440. Open year round, the Center
has a theater, exhibits, a nature walk, and bookstore.
In the town of McCarthy at the end of the McCarthy
Road leading east from Chitina on the Edgerton Hwy,
a National Park Service kiosk is open daily in the
summer. Five miles beyond McCarthy, the Kennecott
Visitor Center is located in the historic general store at
the site of the Kennecott National Historic Landmark.
Kennecott includes the land, mining claims, and mill
town that formed the foundation of Kennecott Copper
until 1938 when the site closed. The Chitina Ranger
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