Click here for Mt Whitney Lottery 2019 info

Mt Whitney Lottery 2018                    


May update:   Quite a few slots opened up today, May 1. They show up at random times throughout the day over the first 24 hours. Then they disappear as people find them and reserve them. After May 1, anything showing up will be in the days just before the entry date, as the good people among us log in and release the slots they don't need.

April update:   Between now and May 1, people who won slots in the lottery are required to pay for the slots they won. As people pay for the slots, they may reduce the number of hikers in their group, or they may completely cancel their reservations. When that occurs, recreation.gov releases the slots back to the web page at a random time over the next 24 hours. Others can then book and pay for a permit for those slots. So during April, people will see a few spots open up occasionally.

On May 1, every permit that was not paid for will be released back to the web page at random times over the next 24 hours.

Here are links to the permit reservation pages on Recreation.gov:

      DAY USE of Mt. Whitney Zone             Mt. Whitney Trail Overnight Permit


April 1:  The "mini-on-sale", 7:00 AM, April 1.  Any slots not assigned in the lottery (usually mid-week May and October dates).  Better dates will go quickly to those with the fastest fingers.
Also, throughout the day:  Slots that were declined by lottery winners are released at random times -- over the next 24 hours. After April 1, if any winner declines their won slots, those will show up at a random time in the next 24 hours (but most people who can't use their slots simply don't pay, and those become available on May 1 (at that random time.)

March 15:  The lottery application period ended. The lottery results will be available approximately March 24.
NOTE:  When the available slots show up after the lottery is run, there are sometimes dates showing openings, while someone who applied for that date went unfulfilled by the lottery. These are slots that were released by Inyo (or Rec.gov) staff, AFTER the lottery process was run. The slots are released when a person telephones and requests that their lottery application and slots be removed.

Lottery Applications were accepted for day hike and overnight hikes starting Feb 1, ending March 15.  To apply, click here.  Lottery entry deadline is Thu Mar 15, 2018, 11:59 PM EDT (that's 8:59 PM Pacific time!)

Updates and information will be posted here.

The best source of information and the best first place to start is the Inyo National Forest web page, Mount Whitney Lottery - Permit Reservations

Progress update: Weekly Lottery Progress Report (data: Noon March 1, 2018 )
from the "Permit Reservations" web page above:

10 Most Popular First Choice Dates
Number of people requesting a date is much larger when all alternate choices are considered.
    The data below is from the first choice only.

Mt. Whitney Trail Overnight |  DAY USE of Mt. Whitney Zone
Quota: 60 people per day    |   100 people per day
               #     #      |               #      #
Entry Date   Apps  People   |  Entry Date  Apps  People
----------   ----   ---     |  ----------  ---    ---
Sat Aug  4   196    947     |  Sat Aug  4  127    592
Fri Jul 27   152    804     |  Sat Jul 21  111    543
Fri Aug  3   167    779     |  Sat Aug 18   99    527
Sat Sep  1   171    778     |  Sat Jul 28  110    490
Sat Jul 14   148    687     |  Sat Jul 14  103    480
Sat Aug 25   137    632     |  Sat Aug 25   94    465
Sat Aug 11   126    618     |  Sun Sep  2   89    464
Sat Jul 28   122    598     |  Sat Aug 11   79    426
Fri Aug 24   123    577     |  Sat Jul  7   72    373
Sat Jul 21   117    564     |  Sat Sep  1   72    363




Link to:   Mt Whitney Lottery 2017