Mt. Whitney permits: the lottery, the April 22 leftovers, and how cancellations come back

From May through October, Inyo National Forest lets only a fixed number of people a day onto the Mt. Whitney Trail, and most of those spaces are handed out by lottery. The lottery is the first way in, not the only one. Recreation.gov's own Mt. Whitney permit page and the Forest Service's Whitney lottery page describe two more: the unclaimed dates that go on sale every April 22, and cancelled permits, which go back on the calendar all season long.

Everything below comes from those two pages, the Forest Service's wilderness permits page, and Recreation.gov's availability data, all checked September 23, 2026. Where we're reading between the lines, we say so.

The two permits, and how many there are

The lottery covers two permits on the Mt. Whitney Trail out of Whitney Portal:

Permit	Daily quota (May 1 to Nov 1)	What it allows
Day Use (all routes in the Whitney Zone)	100 people per day	One calendar day, midnight to midnight
Mt. Whitney Trail (Overnight)	60 people per day	Starts on the Whitney Trail, camps along it, can continue onto the John Muir Trail

The two quotas are separate, and so are the permits. A day-use permit can't be used for an overnight trip, and you can't hold day-use permits on back-to-back days. Kids count toward the quota and the group size, and the largest group allowed is 15.

From November 2 through April 30 there's no quota. You still need a permit, but there's no limit on how many are issued, and they open on Recreation.gov two weeks before the trip. The trail is "usually snow-free from July to late September," per the Forest Service. Outside that window, the same page says, you need winter mountaineering skills and equipment.

The lottery calendar

When	What happens
February 1 to March 1	Lottery applications open on Recreation.gov
March 15	Results posted in your Recreation.gov account
April 21, 9 p.m. Pacific	Deadline for winners to pay $15 per person and finish the reservation, or lose the date
April 22, 7 a.m. Pacific	Every date left over is released for first-come, first-served booking online (no phone sales)

One application per group or household. The Forest Service says groups that send in more than one "are subject to disqualification." You can list up to 10 alternate dates on that application. The lottery-only rule doesn't stop you from booking more permits later: the Forest Service says "Additional reservations can be made after the lottery on April 22 if you want more than one trip per year."

Permits cost a $6 reservation fee plus $15 a person. There are no refunds for Whitney day-use or overnight permits, and no credits or rain checks.

Chance #2: April 22

Dates the lottery didn't fill, plus dates whose winners didn't pay by April 21, go on sale at 7 a.m. Pacific on April 22, first come, first served. The Forest Service says reservations "will stay open for the rest of the season." So April 22 isn't a one-morning sale. It starts a booking window that runs until November 1.

What to do: be logged in to Recreation.gov before 7 a.m. with your group size and alternate leaders ready. You can't add alternates later. Our guess, not something the Forest Service publishes: summer weekends go first, and a September weekday is an easier target than a July Saturday.

Chance #3: cancellations, all season

The Forest Service's wilderness permits page says it plainly: "When a permit is cancelled, quota space is returned to the reservation calendar within 24 hours." Nobody announces it, and nobody holds it for anyone. Whoever checks first books it. Our Mt. Whitney permit cancellations page shows the dates with room right now and logs every space we see come back.

The rules decide when those spaces come back.

No refunds means there's little reason to cancel. Cancelling doesn't get you any money back. Our read is that some groups whose plans fall through just don't show up, which makes the no-show rule matter as much as the cancellation rule.

The no-show deadline hands back unprinted permits. You have to print your permit (or pick it up) before a deadline, or it's cancelled as a no-show:

• Day use: noon, one day before the entry date
• Overnight: 10 a.m. on the entry date

The Forest Service says a no-show's "space may go to other groups." Combine that with the 24-hour rule and you get our inference: a meaningful share of the season's openings should show up around those deadlines. That's the day before for day hikes and the morning of for overnight trips. What we saw on September 23 fits that pattern. At about 9:30 p.m. Pacific, a few hours after the noon deadline for September 24 day hikes, Recreation.gov's availability data listed 2 day-use spaces open for September 24. The only other open space it listed for the rest of the season was 1 day-use space on October 14. It listed no open overnight spaces.

Date changes stop 12 days out. Permit holders can move their entry date online only if the trip is 12 or more days away and there's quota on the new date. When someone moves, their old date's spaces should go back into the pool. Inside 12 days, their only options are to go, cancel, or not show up.

Groups shrink. Group size can be reduced online (with no refund). Quota is counted in people, so when a group of six drops to four, two spaces should go back.

Past dates hint that these openings are real. Recreation.gov's availability data still lists open day-use spaces on 5 dates in July 2026 and 6 dates in August, 1 to 6 people each. Those are peak-summer dates on a lottery permit. We can't tell from the data when those spaces came back. Our read is that they came back late, after most people had stopped looking.

If the lottery trail is full: other ways onto the mountain

The lottery only covers the Mt. Whitney Trail permits above. Per the Forest Service, these are not in the lottery:

• North Fork of Lone Pine Creek (overnight): the approach to the Mountaineers Route, East Face, East Buttress, and Mt. Russell. Reserve up to 6 months ahead.
• Longer approaches from other trailheads, like Kearsarge Pass (Onion Valley Road) or Cottonwood Pass (Horseshoe Meadow Road). These are also bookable up to 6 months ahead.

Trips that start on another Inyo trail and come down to Whitney Portal over Trail Crest need the "Overnight Exiting Mt. Whitney" permit type, and the exit has its own quota: 25 people per entry date. 15 spaces open 6 months ahead, and the other 10 open two weeks before the entry date. Hikers who begin in another park or forest are exempt from that exit quota. More broadly, on Inyo's quota trails, 60% of each trailhead's quota opens 6 months ahead and the other 40% two weeks before the entry date. So for these routes, a date that looks sold out six months ahead isn't really full until two weeks out.

Before you go

The permit comes with rules worth reading before you go:

• Only the named leader or one of up to 3 alternates can use it. Names can't be changed after you book, and permits can't be sold or transferred.
• Overnight groups must carry a bear-resistant container for food and trash, and Recreation.gov warns of very active bears at Whitney Portal, so food and scented items go in the bear lockers, not the car. If you're going overnight and don't own one, a bear canister is the gear the permit terms spell out.
• Pack out your poop. There are no restrooms on the trail. Pack-out kits are provided at the visitor center and the trailhead, and there's a disposal box by the trailhead restrooms.
• Plan on 12 to 14 hours for the day hike. It's 22 miles round trip with more than 6,200 feet of climbing from Whitney Portal (8,300 feet). The Forest Service suggests day hikers start before sunrise and "be prepared to hike in the dark," so bring a real headlamp and spare batteries.

What to do, in order

1. Apply to the lottery between February 1 and March 1, with all 10 alternate dates filled in and up to 3 alternate leaders listed.
2. If you win, pay by 9 p.m. Pacific on April 21. Winners who miss it lose the date.
3. If you lose, be online at 7 a.m. Pacific on April 22. Have backup dates ready; weekdays are likely easier than weekends.
4. After that, watch for cancellations. Check the day before your date (after the noon day-use deadline) and the morning of (after 10 a.m. for overnight). Space comes back within 24 hours of a cancellation, so checking once a week won't catch it.
5. Consider the routes outside the lottery: North Fork of Lone Pine Creek for climbers, or Cottonwood or Kearsarge for a longer trip with a Trail Crest exit.

Step 4 is what our permit alerts are for. Pick Mt. Whitney, choose Day Use or Overnight, set your dates and group size, and we'll email you when enough space opens for your whole group.