Olympic National Park · Washington
The single overnight permit for backpacking anywhere in Olympic National Park's 95 percent wilderness, covering the Hoh rainforest, the High Divide, the Sol Duc and Elwha valleys, and 73 miles of wild Pacific coast. Required year-round and booked on Recreation.gov by wilderness area.
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As of September 2026, Olympic Wilderness in Olympic National Park, Washington requires a permit issued via reservation. Olympic Wilderness is a high-demand permit, rating 8/10 on PermitSnag's demand index. Cancelled Olympic Wilderness permits are re-released on the booking system, and PermitSnag alerts you the moment one opens. The permit season for Olympic Wilderness runs May 15 through October 15.
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More on Olympic Wilderness: Live availability activityWhen Olympic Wilderness permits open upDo I need a Olympic National Park Wilderness permit?
Olympic Wilderness permit fee: $8/person/night (16+, under-16 free) + $6 reservation fee; $45 annual pass covers nightly fee.
Where you pick up the permit, get current conditions, and borrow a bear canister at no cost.
Sol Duc high country loop with lake basins and a direct view of Mount Olympus and its glaciers.
Rainforest valley climb toward the Blue Glacier and the flank of Mount Olympus, one of the park's most requested corridors.
Historic chalet under a wall of seasonal waterfalls in the Quinault backcountry.
Sea stacks, Cape Alava, and tide-dependent headland crossings on the wilderness coastal strip.
One permit unlocks glaciated peaks, temperate rainforest, and wild coastline inside a single national park, the only place in the lower 48 where you can do all three on one trip.
The Olympic National Park Wilderness Permit is one permit that covers all overnight backpacking inside the park, split into 15 wilderness areas on Recreation.gov: Staircase, Dosewallips, Hurricane, Elwha, Sol Duc, Bogachiel, Hoh, Queets, Quinault, Bailey Range, Lake Crescent, North Coast, South Coast, plus a Pacific Northwest Trail thru-permit. You reserve the specific area and dates you plan to camp, and the same permit stays with you as you move between zones on a longer route.
Permits are required year-round for every overnight stay in Olympic wilderness. There is no lottery. Summer-season dates (May 15 through October 15) go on sale April 15 at 10:00 AM Eastern, and popular quota areas sell out fast. Outside that window you still need a permit, booked the same way. Paper self-registration at trailheads no longer exists, so book ahead on Recreation.gov or through the Wilderness Information Center.
There is no one route. The permit covers 15 wilderness areas, and where you camp is where you reserve. Valley approaches like the Hoh River, Elwha, and North Fork Quinault start low and green, gaining elevation slowly toward high camps and passes. The High Divide loop out of Sol Duc strings together Seven Lakes Basin and a ridgeline face-to-face with Mount Olympus. Staircase and Dosewallips open the drier east side of the range. The North and South Coast routes trade switchbacks for tide tables, sand, and headland scrambles on fixed ropes.
Most trips run 2 to 5 nights. Popular corridors use designated numbered camps and fill first, while quieter areas on the east and south sides often have space midweek. Bear canisters are required in every wilderness camp area, and the Wilderness Information Center in Port Angeles loans them free to permit holders.
Olympic protects nearly a million acres of designated wilderness (the Daniel J. Evans Wilderness) across three ecosystems that almost never sit side by side. Mount Olympus carries active glaciers, the Hoh and Quinault valleys hold some of the last old-growth temperate rainforest on earth, and the coastal strip stays roadless for miles. A backpacking permit is the only way to sleep out in any of it, and demand for the quota areas is real: Ozette, the Hoh, and the Sol Duc high country book out within minutes of opening.
Rain drips off moss the size of dinner plates in the valley bottoms, then the trail climbs into subalpine meadows where marmots whistle and the whole Bailey Range fills the horizon. Down on the coast you time your walk to the tide, watch bald eagles work the driftwood line, and fall asleep to surf instead of silence.
Best for: Hikers of moderate fitness willing to put in the effort.
Recommended experience: Basic hiking experience. Start with shorter trails if new to hiking.
Trailhead information
Start of the Hoh River Trail and the busiest wilderness entry in the park. NPS's trailhead waypoint file lists this point as Hoh Ranger Station.
NPS says parking at the Hoh Rain Forest is limited in summer, and recommends arriving before 8 am or after 5 pm to avoid entrance-station waits of up to 2 hours.
NPS puts the Hoh Rain Forest 20 miles southeast of Forks, WA.
Trailhead information
Entry for the High Divide and Seven Lakes Basin. NPS puts the area 15 miles south of Lake Crescent.
Trailhead information
Entry for the East Fork Quinault River Trail and Enchanted Valley.
Reach Graves Creek Road via North Shore Road. RVs and trailers are prohibited on Graves Creek Road.
Trailhead information
Entry for the Ozette Triangle and the north end of the wilderness coast quota area.
NPS asks visitors to check with the Washington State Department of Transportation before travelling, because SR 112 has been subject to frequent closure and detours from flooding and landslides.
Trailhead information
Road access to the North Coast camp areas.
Trailhead information
Southeast corner entry.
NPS says road access to Staircase is via Forest Service Road 24, a gravel road along Lake Cushman.
Trailhead information
Year-round permit office, and the phone call that handles what Recreation.gov cannot. NPS says only the sites on the Wilderness Trip Planner Map are bookable online, and that cross-country or off-trail trips have to be set up with the centre directly.
Olympic National Park Visitor Center, 3002 Mount Angeles Road, Port Angeles, WA 98362. NPS publishes its operating season as year round, closed Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. Phone (360) 565-3100.
Late July through September is the driest stretch, with high-country snow mostly melted out and the longest coastal daylight for timing tides. May and June are green and quiet in the valleys but wet and snowbound up high.
Trailhead (5,000 ft)
Backcountry Tips
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One permit covers three very different places. On the coast the light is the evening one, with headlands and drift logs going flat and black against the sun. In the rain forest valleys the good hour is the first one, while mist is still sitting in the moss. Up on the divides both ends of the day work, and neither lasts long.
Overcast suits the rain forest. The Hoh and the East Fork Quinault photograph badly in hard midday sun and well in the drizzle that made them. Save the clear days for the High Divide, where NPS lists views of Mount Olympus and other peaks as the draw.
The quota areas are the famous ones. NPS says most of the Olympic wilderness is managed on a non-quota system, that there is no limit on the number of permits issued in those areas, and that you may camp in any area more than 1 mile from a park road where you can camp in a Leave No Trace manner. So if the basin you wanted is gone, most of the park is not rationed.
Emergency contacts, ranger station locations, and satellite communicator tips for Olympic Wilderness.
Bear canister requirements, approved container lists, and rental locations for this permit.
Gear Checklist: Required and recommended gear for Olympic Wilderness · Shuttle Services: Trailhead transportation options · Guide Services: Experienced wilderness guides
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No. The Olympic wilderness permit is a first-come reservation, not a lottery. Summer dates (May 15 through October 15) open April 15 at 10:00 AM Eastern on Recreation.gov, and the busiest quota areas like the Hoh, Ozette, and Sol Duc high country can sell out within minutes.
The permit charges $8 per person per night for anyone 16 and older, and youth 15 and under are free. Each overnight permit also carries a $6 non-refundable reservation fee. A $45 annual wilderness pass covers the nightly fee for 12 months but not the reservation fee.
One wilderness permit covers your whole trip, but you reserve the specific wilderness area (or areas) where you plan to camp each night. If your route crosses from, say, Sol Duc into Bogachiel, you book camps in each area on the same permit.
Yes. Bear canisters are required in all Olympic wilderness camp areas. The Wilderness Information Center in Port Angeles loans them free to anyone with a backpacking permit, first-come, first-served.
The park-wide maximum is 12 people and 8 stock. Some camp areas cap below that, and in those areas a party of 7 to 12 has to use a designated group site: Sol Duc/Seven Lakes Basin, Hoh Lake Trail, Hoh River Trail, Grand Valley, Upper Lena Lake, and Lake Constance. Affiliated groups cannot combine to exceed 12 people at any time, and must camp and travel at least a mile apart.
There are no longer paper self-registration permits at trailheads. Book on Recreation.gov ahead of time, or contact the Wilderness Information Center for areas that release permits by phone or in person.
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The wilderness coast leg of Olympic, sea stacks and tide-timed headlands from Shi Shi Beach south.
A dedicated coastal thru-hike instead of a park-wide backcountry permit, and it needs a Makah Recreation Pass for the Shi Shi start.
Quinault backcountry valley with a historic chalet and a wall of seasonal waterfalls.
A single popular valley rather than the whole park, and it books out fast in summer.
The High Divide loop out of Sol Duc, lake basins facing Mount Olympus.
Focused on the Sol Duc high country, with snow lingering on the passes into July.
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