Changes in the works for First-Come, First-Served Wilderness Permits?

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FatFlatlander

Changes in the works for First-Come, First-Served Wilderness Permits?
February 22, 2022 09:18AM

Registered: 6 years ago
Posts: 217

I noticed this on the Yosemite Wilderness Permits webpage today:

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Normally, forty percent of wilderness permits are available on a first-come, first-served basis at park wilderness centers. Instead, this portion of wilderness permit reservations will be available online. Details will be available soon.

Similar verbiage appears on the Recreation.gov Yosemite National Park Wilderness Permits page:

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Permit reservation requests can be made from 24 weeks to seven days in advance of the start of a trip. The remaining 40% portion of wilderness permit reservations will be available online. More details will be available soon.

Further down on the Recreation.gov site, it mentions what was, I believe, the planned "return to normal" system for FCFS permits this year:

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The remaining 40%, as well as any remaining reservable quota, is available for first-come, first-served walk-up permits at Yosemite Wilderness Permit Stations (assuming regular operations in 2022). Walk-up permits become available at 11:00 a.m. the day prior to entry.

Note the statement in parentheses in the above quote. Sounds like they are changing things up and moving away from a return to "regular operations". Maybe this has been posted for a while and I just hadn't noticed until today, but it definitely seems like a recent shift in their plans for first-come, first-serve permits.

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FatFlatlander

Re: Changes in the works for First-Come, First-Served Wilderness Permits?
February 22, 2022 09:27AM

Registered: 6 years ago
Posts: 217

Five minutes of thinking on this yielded a possible reason: the day-use reservations that will be required after May 20. That would require someone to get a day-use reservation to get into the park to try to get a first-come, first-served wilderness permit.

I wonder if this means wilderness permits will be emailed out again this year, or if they will just require the receipt from recreation.gov to get in the park.

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balzaccom

Re: Changes in the works for First-Come, First-Served Wilderness Permits?
February 22, 2022 06:39PM

Moderator
Registered: 13 years ago
Posts: 1,427

I won't be able to tell you until July. That's when our first permit starts. But I think you are right---makes no sense to offer walk-up permits in a park that requires a reservation to get in the gate...

Check our our website: http://www.backpackthesierra.com/
Or just read a good mystery novel set in the Sierra; https://www.amazon.com/Danger-Falling-Rocks-Paul-Wagner/dp/0984884963

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FatFlatlander

Re: Changes in the works for First-Come, First-Served Wilderness Permits?
March 03, 2022 12:37PM

Registered: 6 years ago
Posts: 217

The answer on how the final 40 percent of wilderness permits will be handled this year, from the Yosemite NP Wilderness Permits page.

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Normally, 40 percent of wilderness permits are available on a first-come, first-served basis at park wilderness centers. Instead, in 2022, this portion of wilderness permit reservations will be available online 7 days in advance and up to three days in advance. See below for more information.

And further down the page, the details:

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For the 2022 season, the remaining 40% of trailhead quotas will be released on a first-come, first-served basis on Recreation.gov seven days in advance at 7 am PDT. Popular trailheads will fill very quickly; be logged on and ready to reserve promptly at 7 am PDT seven days in advance of your desired start date. The latest you can make a reservation is three days before a trip (although, few reservations will be available at that point). For example, to start a trip on a Saturday, the earliest you could make a reservation would be the prior Saturday, and you would be able to make a reservation until Wednesday at 11:59 pm. The first on-sale date will be April 22, 2022 (for an April 29 start date) and the last will be October 16, 2022 (for an October 23 start date).

The trip leader or alternate must pick up the wilderness permit in person at a wilderness center one day in advance (8 am to 5 pm) or on the same day (8 am to 10 am, unless held on Recreation.gov for a late arrival up to 5 pm). A reservation confirmation letter is not a valid permit.

Any unreserved permits will be available in person at wilderness centers only on the start date of the trip. Few, if any, unused permits will be available on any given day. You must arrive at a wilderness center during business hours to get a permit. All wilderness centers operate from 8 am to 5 pm. After-hours permits will not be available. In order to get a same-day permit, you must be in the park either by reservation or by entering during non-peak hours.

In-person permits are only available for same-day starts due to reduced capacity in backpackers campgrounds (as a result of the Tuolumne Meadows Campground closure)