Five quota permits and where their returned space goes

Losing a permit lottery does not close the season. Winners fail to pay. Parties shrink. Plans change and reservations are cancelled. Each of those events puts quota back, and each agency handles the return differently.

This site covers five permits and nothing else. For each one it records how the quota is first handed out, where returned space goes, and whether an alert can reach it.

The five permits

Half Dome is the exception. Its cancelled day-hike permits are not put back on a calendar for anyone to book. The park folds them into the next daily lottery, so the only way to reach them is to apply.

What "returned" means here

A returned permit is quota that was awarded or reserved and then given up. It is not new quota. The agency does not add space after the lottery; it only re-offers what someone else let go.

That has two consequences. The supply is small and irregular, often one party's worth on one date. And the opening is specific: one entry point or zone, one entry date, a fixed number of people. A returned permit for the wrong trailhead is not a near miss. It is a different trip.

How returned permits work lists the four ways space comes back and the few release times the agencies publish.

What an alert does

An alert is a repeated check of the Recreation.gov permit calendar. You choose the entry point or zone, the entry dates and the party size. When a check finds space that fits, you get a message.

OpenCampsite, which publishes this site, runs alerts for four of the five permits above. Its free plan checks about every 10 minutes and sends a text, an email or both.

An alert is not a booking. It holds nothing and applies for nothing. You still reserve on Recreation.gov yourself, and another hiker may complete checkout before you do.

Before you set one

• Pick the route first, then the entry point or zone that route requires.
• Fix the party size. Several of these quotas count people, not groups.
• Sign in to Recreation.gov ahead of time and know the fees for your permit.
• Read the pickup or printing rule. Some permits are cancelled if you miss it.

How to read the pages

Every permit page states the season its dates belong to and the day they were checked. Lottery windows, quotas and fees are reset each year. Where an agency page did not state a fact on the check date, the page here leaves it out instead of guessing.

Nothing on this site covers trail conditions, snow, fire closures or fitness. A permit is permission to start. Whether to go is a separate decision made with current agency reports.