Wilderness Camping Advance Reservations

A backpacker stands along the trail in sunny woods. — Backpack through a high-mountain forest to experience the sights and sounds of Glacier.
NPS

Early Access Lottery Period

Glacier National Park will implement two early access lotteries for wilderness camping using the Recreation.gov wilderness camping permits online platform. Lottery applications will be accepted for a chance to secure a wilderness camping itinerary. You will NOT submit any itinerary information with the lottery application. If your lottery application is chosen, you will be assigned a date and time when you can access the Glacier National Park Wilderness Permits system on Recreation.gov. in order to submit your desired wilderness camping itinerary. To participate in either lottery, applicants must first create a Recreation.gov account. Please visit the Recreation.gov homepage for details.

General On-Sale Period (First-come, First-served Advance Reservations)

After early access lotteries are completed, all remaining advance reservation campsites will be available to standard groups (1-8 campers) online at Recreation.gov.

A Recreation.gov account is necessary to make reservations. Please visit the Recreation.gov website to create an account or to login to an already existing account.
Once you reach the Recreation.gov website, type in Glacier National Park Wilderness Permits in the search bar and click on the blue, “Check availability” bar.
Select a starting area (Goat Haunt, Lake McDonald, etc.). Each starting area has a group of campgrounds associated with it. To see what starting area your first campground is associated with, go to the Wilderness Campground Map on Glacier’s website. Find the campground and note the area it is listed within. Areas are color coded on the map for your convenience.
Select your desired dates, enter the number of people in your group, and build your trip itinerary. After building your trip itinerary, select the “Book Now” button. Your trip is not secured until the “Book Now” button is selected. Remember, others will be competing for these same campsites and dates. Users are asked to be ready with multiple itineraries and back-up dates in the event your desired campsites are already booked.
If you receive an error once the “Book Now” button is selected, this indicates that the inventory is no longer available, which means that one or more of your desired wilderness campsites are already reserved. At this point, you will have to adjust your campsite selections and/or desired camping dates and try again.
Once “Book Now” has been selected, and you do not receive any error messages, the itinerary is held and you have 15 minutes to complete the remaining “Order Details.”
After completing the order details, select “Proceed to Payment” to pay for the reservation.
After entering payment details, select “Confirm” and the system will generate an order number and display your itinerary below it.
Your reservation confirmation is NOT your permit. You must pick up the permit either the day before or day of your itinerary start date at any wilderness permit issuing station in Glacier National Park. Permits not picked up by 4:30pm on their start date will be cancelled.
If you experience errors while booking your wilderness trip, refresh your screen in Recreation.gov and try again.
The Recreation.gov website includes important links to detailed information about Glacier National Park's wilderness camping, including camping regulations, trail descriptions, and maps.
To make sure you are ready to book your wilderness backpacking camping trip, take time to review the Wilderness Campground Map to determine what campsites you would like to book. Make sure to read through all of the available information about wilderness regulations and trail descriptions prior to booking your trip.

Cancellations, Refunds, and Technical Issues

What if I Cannot Secure an Advance Reservation?

If you are unable to secure a wilderness camping advance reservation through Recreation.gov, wilderness permits may be available the day before or day of a desired trip start date by walk-up.

Approximately 30% of all sites parkwide are set aside for walk-up campers.
Arrive early the day before your intended trip start date for the best campsite availability.
Follow the links at the bottom of this page for more information on securing a walk-up permit, planning a working itinerary, and more.

Additional Resources

How to Get a Wilderness Permit

Learn how to get a wilderness camping permit.
Wilderness Trip Planning

Gear lists, maps, and more to help you prepare for Glacier's wild landscape.
Wilderness Camping Safety Videos

Watch the required wilderness safety videos before you arrive to speed up your permit issuing process.

Last updated: February 23, 2026

Contact Info

Mailing Address:

PO Box 128
West Glacier, MT 59936

Phone:

406-888-7800

Wilderness Camping Advance Reservations

Early Access Lottery Period

Large Group Lottery Winners

General On-Sale Period (First-come, First-served Advance Reservations)

Cancellations, Refunds, and Technical Issues

What if I Cannot Secure an Advance Reservation?

Additional Resources

Contact Info

Mailing Address:

Phone:

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Wilderness Camping Advance Reservations

Early Access Lottery Period

Large Group Lottery (9-12 campers)

Large Group Lottery Winners

Standard Group Lottery (1-8 campers)

General On-Sale Period (First-come, First-served Advance Reservations)

When and How to Make a General Advance Reservation

Step by Step Guide to Making a General Advance Reservation

Cancellations, Refunds, and Technical Issues

Cancellation and Refund Policy

Recreation.gov Technical Difficulties

What if I Cannot Secure an Advance Reservation?

Additional Resources

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Contact Info

Mailing Address:

Phone:

Contact Us

Tools

Stay Connected