The 59 mile McCarthy road is partially paved, narrow, washboard smooth, full of pot holes & lots of vistas but the two hour trek is well wotth it. But then you still cannot drive to McCarthy. There is a campground and a footbridge crossing the Kennicott River, after which you can walk the mile or take a shuttle.

As a 'support town' to the Kennecott mine, with restaurants, bars, brothels, etc, it quickly became a ghost town when the mine shut down. Now with about 100 year round residents it is a quiet, quaint and beautiful town and the gateway to the Kennecott mine, Root glacier and a myriad of hiking trails.