The Alsek Ranges are the southeasternmost subdivision of the Saint Elias Mountains

Saint Elias Mountains

The Saint Elias Mountains are a subgroup of the Pacific Coast Ranges, located in southeastern Alaska in the United States, southwestern Yukon and the very far northwestern part of British Columbia in Canada. The range spans Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve in the USA and Kluane...

 of the Pacific Cordillera

Pacific Cordillera

The Pacific Cordillera is a top-level physiographic region of Canada. This cordillera is part of the Western Cordillera of North America. The mountain ranges in this region were covered during the Pleistocene by the Cordilleran Ice Sheet...

. They span the region between the Alsek River

Alsek River

The Alsek River is a wilderness river flowing from the Yukon into Northern British Columbia and into Alaska. The surrounding area from the Western edge of the Alsek to East of the East Alsek is known to locals as Dry Bay.-Course:...

, Glacier Bay

Glacier Bay

Glacier Bay Basin in southeastern Alaska, United States, encompasses the Glacier Bay and surrounding mountains and glaciers, which was first proclaimed a U.S. National Monument on February 25, 1925 and which was later, on Dec...

 and the Kelsall River

Kelsall River

The Kelsall River is a river in the U.S. State of Alaska, the Canadian province of British Columbia, and Yukon Territory. It is a tributary of the Chilkat River, flowing into it in the Haines Borough of Alaska.-See also:*List of rivers of Alaska...

 (which is the route of the highway from Haines, Alaska

Haines, Alaska

Haines is a census-designated place in Haines Borough, Alaska, United States. As of the 2000 census, the population of the area was 1,811. Haines was formerly a city but no longer has a municipal government...

 to Haines Junction, Yukon

Haines Junction, Yukon

Haines Junction is a village in the Yukon, Canada. It is located at Kilometre 1,632 of the Alaska Highway at its junction with the Haines Highway, hence the name of the community. According to the 2006 Census the population was 589. It is next to Kluane National Park and Reserve...

). Their western boundary is the Grand Pacific Glacier, beyond which is the Fairweather Range

Fairweather Range

The Fairweather Range is the unofficial name for a mountain range located in the U.S. state of Alaska and the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is the southernmost range of the Saint Elias Mountains...

, another subdivision of the St. Elias Mountains. To their east is the northernmost section of the Boundary Ranges

Boundary Ranges

The Boundary Ranges, also known in the singular and as the Alaska Boundary Range, are the largest and most northerly subrange of the Coast Mountains...

, the northernmost subdivision of the Coast Mountains

Coast Mountains

The Coast Mountains are a major mountain range, in the Pacific Coast Ranges, of western North America, extending from southwestern Yukon through the Alaska Panhandle and virtually all of the Coast of British Columbia. They are so-named because of their proximity to the sea coast, and are often...

 and which are also known as the Alaska Boundary Range, and which run south to the Nass River

Nass River

The Nass River is a river in northern British Columbia, Canada. It flows from the Coast Mountains southwest to Nass Bay, a sidewater of Portland Inlet, which connects to the North Pacific Ocean via the Dixon Entrance...

 and form, as their name indicates, the spine of the boundary between the American state

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 of Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

 and the Canadian province of British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

.

All of the British Columbia portion of the Alsek Ranges are in the Tatshenshini-Alsek Park

Tatshenshini-Alsek Park

Tatshenshini-Alsek Park or Tatshenshini-Alsek Provincial Wilderness Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada . It was established in 1993 after an intensive campaign by Canadian and American conservation organizations to halt mining exploration and development in the area and protect...

, but is also the location of the controversial Windy Craggy Mine proposal. Most of the Alaskan portion between the Lynn Canal

Lynn Canal

Lynn Canal is an inlet into the mainland of southeast Alaska.Lynn Canal runs about from the inlets of the Chilkat River south to Chatham Strait and Stephens Passage...

 and Glacier Bay is part of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve

Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve

Glacier Bay National Park is a national park in Alaska. The area around Glacier Bay in southeastern Alaska was first proclaimed a U.S. National Monument on February 25, 1925. It was changed to Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve on Dec. 2, 1980 by the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation...

, and most of the Yukon portion is in Kluane National Park and Reserve

Kluane National Park and Reserve

Kluane National Park and Reserve are two units of Canada's national park system, located in the extreme southwestern corner of Yukon Territory. Kluane National Park Reserve was established in 1972, covering 22,016 square kilometres....

.