One Best Hike: Mount Rainier's Wonderland Trail by Doug Lorain

Author:Doug Lorain
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: eBook ISBN: 9780899976839
Publisher: Wilderness Press
Published: 2012-06-05T16:00:00+00:00

Permits

To protect from overuse, the NPS imposes a limited-use permit system on overnight backcountry travel. Day hikers do not need a permit, but because you cannot do the Wonderland Trail as a day hike (or even, realistically, as a series of very long day hikes), this doesn’t help you. During the short two-month hiking season, the demand for overnight permits is quite high. As a result, obtaining a permit to hike when and where you want to go may be the most difficult hurdle you must overcome.

While 30% of all overnight wilderness permits are given out on a first-come, first-serve basis, the majority, approximately 70%, are reserved in advance. Thus, your best bet is to make a reservation.

The reservation process is straightforward and fairly simple. Starting on March 15 of each year, reservation requests are accepted by fax, letter, or in person at the Longmire Wilderness Information Center. No phone or e-mail reservations are accepted. Though the wilderness permit itself is free, there is a $20 per party fee for reservations (up to a maximum of 12 persons), which can be paid by check or with any major credit card. The reservation fee is nonrefundable, even if you end up being unable to make the trip. Reservations can be made for trips of up to 14 consecutive days. Starting on April 1, all reservation requests that the park has received between March 15 and April 1 are put into a bin and processed in random order. Therefore, there is no advantage to sending in your request on March 15 as opposed to, say, March 26. Any requests made after April 1 are processed in the order they are received. Because the park receives several hundred reservation requests during the initial period and has a limited number of rangers available to process them, it usually takes several weeks before all the reservations are finished and confirmation letters are sent out. So don’t expect to hear anything until about May. The simplest way to obtain a blank reservation form is to print one off the park’s website at tinyurl.com/wonderlandres. After completing the form, send it by fax to (360) 569-3131 or by mail to Mount Rainier National Park, Wilderness Information Center, 55210 238th Avenue E, Ashford, WA 98304-9751.

Given the number of reservation requests and the limited number of available campsites, not all requests can be fulfilled. Try to be as flexible as possible and be willing to accept different starting dates or different campsites than what you originally wanted. If the park is unable to fulfill your request, they will send you a letter to that effect and no reservation fee will be charged. Successful requesters receive a confirmation letter, but this is not your permit. When you arrive, you must stop at a ranger station or wilderness information center to pick up your actual permit. Any reserved permits that are not picked up by 10 a.m. on the day that the trip is scheduled to begin will be canceled and the available campsites given to other people on a first-come, first-serve basis.

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