About this permit
The Enchantments through-hike crosses the Enchantment Permit Area in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, from the Stuart/Colchuck trailhead over Aasgard Pass and out through the Snow Lakes drainage. Nobody issues a permit for the traverse itself. Recreation.gov sells this permit area by ZONE, and the permit names the zone you camp in and the date you enter: "Once a permit reservation is made, no changes may be made to the permit zone or entry date." So a traverse is covered by Colchuck, the Core, or Snow, whichever one you spend the night in.
Walk it in a day and there is no lottery at all. The Forest Service asks only that "Day users need only fill out a free day-use permit, available at any of the three trailheads accessing the Enchantment Permit Area," plus a Northwest Forest Pass to park. Everyone entering overnight between May 15 and October 31 needs a zone permit; from November 1 to May 15 they are not required and visitors self-register at the trailhead.
Cancellations are the way in after February. Anything unclaimed from the advanced lottery goes back into the advance reservation system on April 1 at around 7 am PT, and in-season cancellations follow, so a cancellation alert on Colchuck, the Core and Snow covers the season. The lotteries come first: the advanced lottery runs February 15 to March 1, with results on March 17 and payment due by March 31 at 11:59 pm PT, and the daily lottery runs seven days a week through the season, one day ahead, from inside the geofence area on a mobile device.
The Core Enchantment Zone is capped at 24 people per day: 16 through the advanced lottery, 8 through the daily lottery. The other zones are allocated by group: Snow Lakes five a day, Stuart Lake four, Colchuck Lake three, Eightmile/Caroline three, with one permit from each zone held back for the daily lottery. Maximum group size is eight everywhere, including stock.
A Core Zone permit is the only one that lets you camp in any zone. Everyone else camps only in the zone printed on the permit, though day use across zones is fine. The Forest Service recommends the Core for experienced hikers prepared for arduous travel and all weather conditions, and says visitors typically plan at least three or four days.
The route
The classic through-hike goes in at the Stuart/Colchuck Lake trailhead, climbs past Colchuck Lake to Aasgard Pass, crosses the Core Enchantment Zone, and descends the Snow Lakes drainage to the Snow Lakes trailhead outside Leavenworth. Recreation.gov describes the area as rugged glaciated peaks and a series of lakes ranging from 4,400 to 7,800 feet, with lower trails forested and the upper lakes fully alpine.
As a permit, it is five zones: Core Enchantment, Snow Lake, Colchuck Lake, Stuart Lake and Eightmile/Caroline. Your permit names one zone and you camp only in that zone, unless you hold a Core permit, in which case you may camp in any of the five. Day use is allowed across zones regardless.
The Forest Service recommends the Core Zone for experienced hikers who are prepared for arduous travel and all weather, and says visitors typically plan at least three or four days for the trip. The alternative is a permit for Colchuck or Snow Lakes with a day trip up into the Core, which is an easier permit to get.
Why it matters
The Enchantments permit is allocated by people, not by groups. The Forest Service is explicit that Core Zone entry is by people, not group. That is why it is the hardest overnight permit in Washington: a party of four does not take one of 24 slots, it takes four of them. The Forest Service's own framing is that demand for overnight permits far exceeds the number available.
