Blauert on Outdoors: Dates, deadlines for National Park Service reservations, permits

It’s time for our sixth annual list of opening dates and deadlines for reservations and permits for some of the most popular outdoors (and hard to reserve) destinations in Central California.

Yosemite’s campgrounds are managed by the National Park Service, unlike all the other accommodations in the park. Seven of the largest accept reservations through the National Recreation Reservation System (recreation.gov, 877-444-6777). You can book up to five months in advance with a new month of reservations opening on the 15th of each month at 7 a.m.

Reservations often sell out within a few minutes. The website is recommended because the phone system can be overloaded. For the best luck, have multiple dates and campgrounds listed in advance. The NRRS also handles campground reservations for all other national forests and parks, including cabins and fire lookouts, with reservations available six months in advance.

Yosemite’s hotels, motels, cabins, tent cabins, High Sierra Camps and housekeeping cabins are operated by the park’s concessionaire, DNC Parks and Resorts. The High Sierra Camps are by far the most competitive, and applications are chosen via a lottery system. Lottery applications for 2016 will be accepted from Sept. 1-Nov. 1.

Reservations for all other accommodations and tickets for the Ahwahnee Hotel’s Bracebridge Dinners in December are available one year and one day in advance beginning at 7 a.m. (yosemitepark.com, 801-559-4884). For next Christmas, mark your calendar to call this December.

Sequoia National Park operates its high-elevation backcountry camp at Bearpaw Meadow along the popular High Sierra Trail. Reservations open Jan. 2 at 7 a.m. (visitsequoia.com/bearpaw.aspx or call 866-807-3598).

Finding lodging in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks is less challenging than Yosemite, though your safest bet is to make the reservation as early as possible. As with Yosemite, lodging can be reserved 366 days in advance. Go to visitsequoia.com or call 866-807-3598.

Permits to hike to the top of Half Dome are distributed through a lottery system with applications accepted March 1-31. About 50 additional permits will be offered for each day the cables are up. There is an application fee ($4.50 Internet/$6.50 phone), plus a fee of $8 per hiker if your permit is granted. For information, go to nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/hdpermits.htm. Lottery applications can be submitted through recreation.gov or by calling 877-444-6777.

Because this year’s permit lottery is over, the only option is to try to get a permit on the day you hope to hike. To avoid disappointment, plan your Half Dome hike for next year and hike a Yosemite summit that doesn’t require reservations this year – Clouds Rest and Mount Hoffman (featured last week) are better bets.

Permits are required to hike to the 14,505-foot summit of Mount Whitney. Applications are placed into a lottery because the trail is so popular. Even determined hikers who attempt the 22-mile challenge in a single day must have a permit. Inyo National Forest (fs.usda.gov/inyo, 760-873-2400) accepts applications from Feb. 1-March 15. The cost is $15 per person. Like Half Dome, this is a hike to plan for a future year.

Wilderness permits are required for all overnight trips to most wilderness areas. For national forest areas in the Sierra Nevada, and especially for the national parks, advance reservations are strongly recommended. Yosemite permits can be reserved up to six months in advance by phone, fax or mail (nps.gov/yose, phone 209-372-0740, fax 209-372-0739). The reservation fee is $5, plus $5 for each person in the group. Many dates are filled, but you can still plan a trip for less popular dates or trailheads.

A list of open dates and trailheads is available on the website. Reservations for Sequoia and Kings Canyon permits have been accepted since March 1. A $15 fee is charged (nps.gov/seki, 559-565-3341). Many dates and trailheads are still available for this summer. For national forest trailheads, requesting a permit in March or April should guarantee a reservation in areas subject to daily quotas, but national forests are usually less popular than national parks and there are many places where it’s still easy to get a permit.

Check with each forest’s headquarters for further details. The Emigrant Wilderness in Stanislaus National Forest is a good bet for a last-minute trip. Within national parks, walk-up permits are set aside for a small number of backpackers each day, but getting one is not guaranteed and reservations are advised.

Day hikes do not usually require a permit unless you are hiking in the Desolation Wilderness.

California State Park campground reservations are available at reserveamerica.com or 800-444-7275. Reservations can be made seven months in advance and are opened in monthlong blocks on the first of each month. Currently, they can be made through Feb. 29. The next block (through March 31) will open Aug. 1 at 8 a.m. Reservations for group walks to see the elephant seals at Ano Nuevo State Park become available Oct. 20 using the same phone number and website.

This story was originally published July 14, 2015 at 7:26 PM with the headline "Blauert on Outdoors: Dates, deadlines for National Park Service reservations, permits."