Mount Rainier National Park now accepting wilderness permit reservations

SEATTLE -- Want to camp in Mount Rainier National Park this year? The park began accepting online reservations today (March 15).

The park is also accepting climbing permits and overnight trips on the Wonderland Trail.

Requests received from March 15 through March 31 will be processed in random order. Requests received after March 31 will be reviewed in the order received, if any reservations remain, according to a release.

Mount Rainier National Park has thousands of visitors during the peak summer months and backcountry camping sites can fill up quickly. About 70 percent of the available wilderness permits can be reserved while the remaining 30 percent are issued on a first-come, first-served basis.

In 2017, the park received a record number of requests for the Wonderland Trail circuit. The park stopped taking requests for advanced reservations to hike the circuit on April 1. Visitors interested in hiking the Wonderland Trail circuit in 2018 are encouraged to apply in the first two weeks.

The park is now charging a nonrefundable application fee of $20 for each reservation request. If a reservation is confirmed you will not be charged an additional wilderness reservation fee.

The revenue will support the operations of the park’s three Wilderness Information Centers and the ongoing development of a new reservation system. This online reservation system will allow users to see real-time site availability while requesting reservations.

Any requests to camp above 10,000 feet also require payment of the annual Mount Rainier Climbing Fee.

More information about the climbing program is available on the park’s website.