Online wilderness permits and their “no show” permit holders?

I’ve seen that in Three Sisters Wilderness in central Oregon

Only one person parked overnight at Lava Lake trailhead which is normally mobbed.  They just implemented a plan that restricts number of people that are allowed.  I think they booked 30 people buy only one showed up.

Except, then I hit a “pulse” of PCT thru hikers and it was very crowded.  People camped on top of me.

Yes, I’ve experienced this and it’s infuriating. I’m not sure what the solution is other than to make it too expensive to just reserve a site and not show up. I don’t know how something like this could be implemented though.

Maybe it’s time to start penalizing “no shows” by denying them the ability to book future permits after, say, 2 no shows?  Or any other way of imposing consequences that would get their attention.

Perhaps greater emphasis from the parks, etc on cancelling if your plans change to allow others to take your place as well as an incentive to do so. Grand Canyon offers a hiker credit good  for a year if you cancel I’m not sure if any other parks do. I’ve had to reduce number of people coming on a trip before because a site was showing at capacity even the day before only to have it not close to full when I got there. This was in the Smokies where you are allowed one change per permit but no refund or credit at all unless the park closes the site. I assume the people thought “why  bother to cancel,nothing in it for me”. Given the state of park funding I’d be more than happy with a time limited partial credit.

Yeah, they should tell people to cancel so others can get permits.

If the percentage of no shows was about the same every day, they could just allocate more permits

Forest Service people just look at the trailhead every day and if it’s over crowded, decrease the number of permits.  If it’s way empty then increase the number of permits.

From anecdotal evidence (based on my conversations with other backpackers, USFS and NPS employees, reports posted on online backpacking forums, my own personal experience, etc.), it seems like this is certainly a common issue.

It also happens with rental cabins and lookouts, too. I’ve arrived at rental cabin that was booked solid for the week before my arrival, but there was no way anyone had been there for a few days based on the tracks (or lack) in the snow that they would’ve had to xc-ski or snowshoe through to access the cabin (and it’s not like they didn’t go because the weather was hazardous and a few feet of snow were supposed to fall, just that a few inches fell early in the week and it was still totally untracked despite it being booked solid before I skied in on the weekend). I’ve seen others mention this as well, or arriving at campsites in the backcountry (or campgrounds in the front country) where they should be booked solid or have multiple parties at them, only to find them at half-capacity or empty. I’ve also had this experience myself (at a backcountry campsite that should have 1-2 other groups there, but there is no one there).

I have no idea what the solution is. I think the commodification of backcountry campsites and cabins provides abundant incentives to book, but none to cancel if you can’t make the trip.

I’ve been at campgounds where there are a bunch of no show campsite reservations

Some campgrounds allow others to take the campsite after the first day of no show

Some campgrounds have said to me they don’t care.  Someone paid for the site.  They’ll just leave it unoccupied for the duration of the reservation.  It does require less work, like cleaning bathrooms

I think rec,gov has a lot to do with this. By centralizing control of most (all?) federal outdoor recreation sites, and incentivizing a private company to manage the whole thing, and opening it up to anyone on earth with an internet connection and a credit card, our federal agencies have created a monster. PMags has some good thoughts on this – https://pmags.com/the-scourge-of-rec-dot-gov

I’ve never been afraid to trespass a bit, but I’m also the type you’ll never know I was there. Permits are good when I can get them, but I havent been harassed without them the couple times I winged it. Maybe I’m just lucky.

Most recently I showed up at a state forest camp in oregon after 14 hours of driving. Drove around the loop at 9pm, 7 open spots. Asked the camp host if I could stay – she said no, they’re full. So I drove around again and camped the night, no problems.

Dumb (illogical) rules are asking to be ignored. Generally I’m ok taking a chance with low consequence. Also I always pick up other peoples trash, so I feel like I could get some sympathy from authorities with my bag of trash if needed. Not everywhere obviously, but my experience has all been good so far.

easier to ask forgiveness than permission?

I am tempted to park at Lava Lake trailhead and just backpack as I feel like and ignore the central oregon wilderness permit.  So far, that’s just idle talk.  Attempt at humor.

I have heard of people illegally hiking into the Bull Run watershed.  If you apologize and pretend ignorance they’ll let you go with a warning.  If you say you’re doing it knowingly, they’ll give you a ticket.  I think I’ll stay out of there to avoid polluting the water supply.  Good reason to prevent people from entering.