Yosemite wilderness permits: book the right start, then collect the actual permit

A lake can inspire a Yosemite backpacking trip, but its name is not the starting point of the reservation. The park allocates wilderness places by entry trailhead and entry date, sometimes with a first-night camping requirement attached. That is a different purchase from reserving a numbered campsite and arriving whenever suits.

Payment leaves one more job to do. Your reservation confirmation is not the wilderness permit. A named trip leader or alternate must collect the permit in person before the trip begins.

This guide covers the reservation-season process, using National Park Service information checked on 21 October 2026. Winter self-registration, overnight climbing and specialised long-distance permits have different arrangements. NPS wilderness reservations

Choose a workable entry, start date and group size before applying. Your intended nightly camp locations help describe the trip, but they are not individual campsite reservations. NPS allows flexibility after the first night within wilderness regulations; some entries impose a particular first-night location, and areas such as Little Yosemite Valley have designated camping requirements. Yosemite’s wilderness FAQ

That means “we’ll start somewhere nearby” is not a harmless adjustment. Your entry determines which trailhead’s available places you use. If your preferred lake can be reached from several trailheads, each proposed route still needs to be realistic for your party, dates and conditions.

For the advance lottery, one application can include up to eight options combining entry dates, trailheads and group sizes. Put them in genuine preference order. Recreation.gov works through them in that order until it finds an available option, rather than giving you eight separate trips to choose from afterwards.

Include only alternatives everyone is prepared to do. Winning your eighth choice is less exciting if half the group thought it was a decorative backup.

Sixty per cent of the trailhead quota enters the advance lottery, 24 weeks before the trip. The weekly application window runs Sunday to Saturday, in Pacific time. Applying early within that window does not improve your lottery chances. Results follow on Monday, and successful applicants must accept and pay by Thursday. NPS reservation timetable

For Tioga Road trailheads, the FAQ applies the advance timetable to starts from the third Thursday in June. That is a reservation rule, not a promise that the road or a particular route will be usable on your chosen date.

The remaining 40 per cent is released seven days before entry at 7 am Pacific time. That is first come, first served, so timing matters in a way it does not during the lottery. Online reservations close three days before entry; for a Saturday start, NPS gives Wednesday at 11:59 pm as the final online deadline.

There can also be space left after the advance lottery and same-day permits at a wilderness centre. Do not plan on the latter being plentiful: NPS says there may be few or none. With flights and accommodation attached, secure a workable reservation before treating a particular wilderness itinerary as settled.

The published fees are US$10 per application and another US$5 per person if awarded. Both are non-refundable. These fees do not pay for meals, equipment or a guided walk.

The distinction between an exit change and an entry change is worth understanding before you reorganise the holiday.

These are NPS change and collection rules, not permission to ignore first-night restrictions when an exit changes.

If a Friday entry becomes impossible and you can only arrive on Saturday, the solution is an available Saturday entry. A Friday late-arrival hold does not move the trip to the next day. Similarly, an extra friend is not automatically covered because the existing group is small; there still needs to be a place available for them.

You can nominate up to three alternate leaders. Add lottery alternates when submitting the application, and include alternates before payment for any reservation. NPS does not allow you to replace the leader or add someone later simply because the original organiser can no longer travel. Leader requirements

Choose actual trip participants who can collect the permit. If the leader withdraws, an already listed alternate can do that job. A friend who was never listed cannot take over by carrying the confirmation email.

There is one application per group travelling together in the weekly lottery. Coordinate it as a group rather than having several people submit overlapping attempts.

During the reservation season, NPS lets you collect the permit the day before entry from 8 am to 5 pm, or on entry day from 8 am to 11 am. That makes 11 am on the start day the normal deadline to plan around, even when you’ve already paid for the reservation. Current reservation instructions

For an expected noon arrival, use the actual late-hold process: within the week before entry, log into Recreation.gov, open the reservation, choose the modification option and select Yes for late arrival. Collection can then occur during open hours, up to 5 pm, and you must still begin on the permitted start date. There is no after-hours summer collection. NPS late-arrival steps

If your arrival plans allow it, collecting the day before removes the pressure of meeting the start-day morning deadline. Accommodation and arrival transport remain separate bookings.

Choose the issuing station as part of that drive. For Hetch Hetchy in the published reservation-season arrangements, collect from an open wilderness centre; Big Oak Flat is the closest. Do not plan to collect at the Hetch Hetchy entrance kiosk. The station page separates those seasonal arrangements from winter self-registration. Its linked conditions page carries the operating notices; a seasonal centre is not a year-round pickup counter.

Driving to another trailhead midway through the itinerary breaks the continuous trip. You need appropriate new permission for the second entry, even if the original permit still has dates remaining.

A road crossing on foot while continuing the route is different. NPS also describes a specific long-distance exception for a night at Tuolumne Meadows Backpackers Campground, but gives no equivalent exception for travelling through Yosemite Valley. Do not use a permit as a multi-entry pass for several walks separated by car journeys. Continuous-trip rules

Half Dome adds a separate question about eligible entries and summit permission. The park’s Half Dome information for backpackers covers that separate permission; it does not replace wilderness permit collection.

Save your reservation details and the pickup location before setting out. For the online changes and messages around the wider holiday, our USA data guide compares eSIMs, roaming and local service. Complete those jobs while connected, then carry the saved information; trail reception is not guaranteed.

The aim is to arrive at the trailhead with the walking plan and the permission agreeing with each other. That leaves the interesting decisions for the landscape, rather than the reservation desk.