Permits in the eastern Sierras

The ‘W’ / ‘walk up’ permits will appear on-line two weeks before start dates.

Also… because the non-W permits are on-line 6 months in advance, there will be a number of cancellations a week or two before entry… things happen, people’s lives change in that 6 months…

Also… obviously, the less popular trails are easier to get… AND… there are some trails with no quota…

Benson Lake Loop (or any variation) has not too high passes, and getting a pass out of Bridgeport ranger station is usually not too hard, at least in early-ish season (late June and even July). I often scored a pass same day just driving in, or at worst the next morning if I got to the station a bit before opening. There’s at least one cheap accommodation available in Bridgeport.

There’s also a less well known station around Mono Lake where you can get a pass for any eastern Sierra entrance. Recall however that I was always hiking solo, which seems to help a lot. Two people is of course the next best scenario. Be polite and bring a bear canister.

Sonora Pass area has some pretty easy passes going south towards Crown Lake, on the Benson loop. And in fact from Crown you could do an easy jump cross country over the little ridge to the west and drop down into a flat canyon/meadow with few or no people.

Maybe call Inyo Ranger to confirm that W permits will be on-line two week before entry date… that’s how they did it last year… .but with covid everything changes

One more thing to consider: Fridays and Saturday are the first days to fill up… and Thursday if Friday is a holiday. People like to string together 3 or 4 day weekend trips. So Sunday thru Thursday starts are easier to get…

All good suggestions here.  At this point, there are no quotas for the Emigrant Wilderness, so you can always get a permit.  And my experience is that once you get in a full day’s hike, most of the people drop away.

But the permit process is crazy.  You are not the only person to complain about how hard it is to get a permit for those high-value trailheads.  Yosemite has now gone to a lottery system for those…so at least you have a better chance than no chance at all at 7:01 a.m.

A good time to look for backdoor routes and other ways to get to where you want to go…

I usually go for Tuesday permits and I get them without much drama in late June through mid-July. I haven’t ever tried for August permits because the conflict with the academic year.

What trailheads are you trying to get?

Thanks all for the input….Of note, I spoke with Cindy at the Wilderness Permit Ranger Station…the only “tip” she had was to use Chrome as the browser, when trying to get these permits…Otherwise, it was a sorry..and good luck .

and, back to this instant question..Big Pine Creek North Fork; Bishop Pass; Paiute Pass; etc, etc.

Big Pine Creek North Fork; Bishop Pass; Paiute Pass; etc, etc.

Those are all EXTREMELY popular hikes…

I am with you on the conspiracy theory that there is software out there. I had a thread on this a few years back. I’ve never been able to find the software for public use. The proximity of these locations to silicon valley assures me that at least some of these tech wizards are beating finger clicks with software. I think if any permit disappears on the first day it becomes available they need to switch the permit over to a lottery system.

I’ve hiked out of the Eastern Sierra with my kids. I have a list of easier trailheads. I can dig it up if you are interested.