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 advance reservations in 2024 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.
March 1, 2024, from 12:00 am (MT) to 11:59 pm (MT)–Lottery applications will be accepted through Recreation.gov at any time within this 24-hour period for a chance to secure one (1) of five (5) large group (9-12 campers) advance reservations.
All applications received within this 24-hour period will have an equal chance of being selected.
There is a $10 non-refundable lottery application fee.
March 4, 2024–Successful lottery applicants will receive an email from Wilderness Permit staff, along with instructions for securing their desired advance reservation itinerary.
Glacier issues five (5) large group (9-12 campers) advance reservations per year. After the large group lottery, wilderness permits will only be available to large groups on a walk-up basis (day before or day of trip start date).
Successful large group lottery applicants are limited to a single reservation during the Early Access Period.
Approximately 70% of wilderness campsites parkwide are available for advance reservations.
Limit of 16 miles per day for advance reservations.
Large Group Lottery Winners
Due to Glacier National Park large group advance reservation policies, large group itineraries will be manually entered into Recreation.gov by wilderness permit staff.
Along with instructions, lottery winners will receive a fillable reservation application in an email attachment from glac_backcountry_permits@nps.gov.
Winners must complete the reservation application and return it to glac_backcountry_permits@nps.gov.
March 11, 2024–Last day to return completed reservation application.
After wilderness permit rangers enter itineraries into Recreation.gov, winners will receive email confirmation and payment instructions from Recreation.gov.
New in 2024: A single permit can now accomodate groups of up to eight (8) campers.
March 15, 2024, from 12:00 am (MT) to 11:59 pm (MT)–Lottery applications will be accepted through Recreation.gov at any time within this 24-hour period for a chance to secure one (1) of 3,000 standard group (1-8 campers) advance reservations.
There is a $10 non-refundable lottery application fee.
All applications received within this 24-hour period will have an equal chance of being selected.
March 17, 2024–Successful lottery applicants will be notified via email from Recreation.gov with a date and time to book their proposed reservation online.
Your assigned lottery access date and time is the earliest you can access the Recreation.gov site. You may access the site any time after that as often as you like until you create an advance reservation.
March 21, 2024–First day for lottery winners to make reservations on Recreation.gov.
April 30, 2024–Last day for lottery winners to make reservations on Recreation.gov.
Successful lottery applicants are limited to a single reservation during the Early Access Period but may create additional reservations during the general on-sale period beginning May 1.
A list of Early Access Lottery frequently asked questions (FAQs) is available at Early Access Lottery FAQs.
Approximately 70% of wilderness campsites parkwide are available for advance reservations.
Limit of 16 miles per day for advance reservations.
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.
May 1, 2024, at 8:00 MT and continuing until September 30, 2024, all wilderness campgrounds not reserved during the early access lottery period will become available to the general public on Recreation.gov Wilderness Camping Permits.
A Recreation.gov account is necessary to make reservations. Please visit Recreation.gov to create an account or to login to an already existing account.
Don't have access to a computer? You can also call the Recreation.gov call center at 877-444-6777.
Limit of 16 miles per day on advance reservation applications.
Large Groups (9-11 campers) – Glacier National Park only issues five (5) large group advance reservations each year. If you have a large group, you may be able to secure an itinerary on a walk-up basis (day before or day of a trip start date).
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 Mapto 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
You will be issued a full refund of $7/person/night camping fees if your reservation is cancelled on Recreation.gov more than seven (7) days prior to trip start date. The $10 administrative fee is non-refundable.
Glacier National Park is a dynamic resource where natural events and conditions are unpredictable. There is a possibility that trail and campground closures, campground environmental conditions, natural events (such as fires, aggressive animals, etc.), or other NPS management actions may render a particular itinerary impossible. In the event that this occurs, every effort will be made to provide you with an alternate itinerary when you pick up your permit, however THERE IS NO GUARANTEE THAT YOUR ROUTE WILL BE PASSABLE OR ITINERARY AVAILABLE WHEN YOU ARRIVE. Refunds are not available for campground closures.
We recommend viewing the following before submitting an application:
If you want to make an advance reservation but do not have access to a computer, you can call the Recreation.gov call center at 877-444-6777.
If you are having difficulty accessing the Recreation.gov website or are experiencing any other technical difficulties with Recreation.gov, please call Recreation.gov customer support at:
Reservation line (Toll-Free) (877) 444-6777
Reservation line (International) (606) 515-6777
Reservation line (Only for use with TDD devices) (877) 833-6777
Call line open daily from 10 am – 12 am EST
Call line closed on: Thanksgiving Day (varies), Christmas Day (12/25), New Year's Day (01/01)
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.
