North Cascades Permit Guide 2026
Lottery permit · Last-minute friendly
Washington · No dogs in the backcountry
By Casey Rowan, Permit Ranger
Last updated
North Cascades National Park protects a rugged, glacier-carved corner of Washington laced with jagged peaks, alpine lakes, and remote camp areas along drainages like Thunder Creek and the Stehekin. A wilderness camping permit is required for overnight backcountry trips, covering the specific camp areas on your itinerary. Popular camps and peak-summer weekends fill fast, so competitive dates can be hard to secure.
North Cascades issues its wilderness permits through recreation.gov, and popular passes sell out ahead of the season. The whole May 15 – October 10 peak season goes on sale at once in late April (2026: April 29) at 7:00 AM Pacific, after the March early-access lottery. Cancellations reopen camps all summer. Outside the peak season permits are walk-up/self-registration only. Permit Ranger watches every pass here and alerts you the moment a sold-out date opens.
When permits are released
The whole May 15 – October 10 peak season goes on sale at once in late April (2026: April 29) at 7:00 AM Pacific, after the March early-access lottery. Cancellations reopen camps all summer. Outside the peak season permits are walk-up/self-registration only.
Quota seasons: May 15 to October 10, 2026; May 15 to October 10, 2027 - off-season: Outside May 15 – October 10 there are no advance reservations - backcountry permits are walk-up / self-registration.
Your odds
North Cascades is unusually candid about its lottery math. In 2025, 13,202 applicants competed for roughly 2,000 early-access booking timeslots, about 15 percent odds. The 2024 lottery ran near 17 percent, so demand is growing faster than capacity.
Like Rainier's, this lottery awards a booking window rather than a permit itself. Winners book from late March; everyone else waits for the late-April general on-sale, when the remaining inventory for the entire season opens at once.
High-demand camps can sell out within minutes of the general on-sale, but cancellations reopen individual nights all season, especially in the two weeks before entry dates as plans firm up.
Source: National Park Service lottery announcements for the 2024 and 2025 seasons. Last checked July 2026.
Fees
- Reservation: $6 per reservation (non-refundable)
- Per person: $10 per person (summer season; youth 15 and under free)
How to get a North Cascades permit
- Plan your route by choosing the camp areas you want for each night, including cross-country zones if you're going off-trail.
- For the best odds on high-demand camps, enter the early-access lottery held in March (2026 window was March 2 to 13).
- Otherwise wait for the general on-sale: the entire May 15 to October 10 peak season goes on sale at once in late April (2026: April 29) at 7:00 AM Pacific.
- Book your permit on recreation.gov, reserving each camp area for the nights of your planned itinerary.
- If your dates are sold out, keep watching - cancellations reopen camps all summer, and Permit Ranger can alert you the moment a watched camp frees up.
Notable trails
- Cascade Pass and Sahale Arm Trail - 4.9 on AllTrails
- Copper Ridge Trail To Copper Lake - 4.9 on AllTrails
- Desolation Peak Trail via Ross Lake - 4.9 on AllTrails
- Cascade Pass Trail to Park Creek Camp - 4.9 on AllTrails
- Eldorado Peak via Eldorado Basin Trail - 4.8 on AllTrails
- Sourdough Mountain Lookout - 4.8 on AllTrails
- Hidden Lake Lookout - 4.7 on AllTrails
- Pierce Mountain Camp via Sourdough Mountain Trail - 4.7 on AllTrails
Top passes in this area
The most in-demand North Cascades entry points, each with its own detail page.
- Big Beaver Boat Group Camp
- Copper Lake Camp
- Cottonwood Camp
- Devils Creek Stock Camp
- Devils Junction Boat Camp
- Graybeal Camp- Closed due to fire damage
- Graybeal Stock Camp-Closed due to fire damage
- Hooter Camp-Closed due to fire damage
Frequently asked questions
When do North Cascades permits open?
What if my dates are sold out?
Does Permit Ranger book the permit for me?
More permits in Washington
Permits awarded by lottery
- Angels Landing permit guide
- Glacier National Park permit guide
- Grand Canyon National Park permit guide
- Half Dome Cables permit guide
- Mount Rainier permit guide
- The Enchantments permit guide
- Yellowstone National Park permit guide
- Yosemite National Park permit guide
Last-minute & walk-up friendly permits
- Cedar Mesa (Bears Ears) permit guide
- Central Cascades Wilderness permit guide
- Glacier National Park permit guide
- Grand Teton National Park permit guide
- Great Smoky Mountains National Park permit guide
- Hoover Wilderness permit guide
- Indian Peaks: Last-Minute permit guide
- Inyo National Forest permit guide
Plan ahead
Sold-out dates reopen all the time from cancellations and quota drops. Permit Ranger checks recreation.gov around the clock and alerts you the moment your dates open. It never books for you.