California Permit Areas

Pick a wilderness permit area to browse its entry-point passes.

California has the deepest bench of wilderness permits in the country: Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon, the Mount Whitney trailheads of Inyo National Forest, and Desolation Wilderness all run competitive recreation.gov quotas. Prime Sierra summer weekends sell out months ahead, but cancellations reopen dates every single day.

California wilderness permits on recreation.gov are led by Desolation Wilderness, Inyo National Forest and Hoover Wilderness, where high-demand passes sell out for peak dates. Permit Ranger watches every pass in the state and alerts you the moment a sold-out date opens.