How to Get a John Muir Trail Permit for the 2024 Hiking Season
Last updated on: February 8, 2024
*this post has been updated for the 2024 hiking season application process!
In August 2021, I thru-hiked the John Muir Trail northbound from Cottonwood Pass to Happy Isles in Yosemite National Park. It was easily the best (and hardest) thing I’ve ever done in my life and I encourage anyone who wants to do it one day to just go for it. The first step to making your John Muir Trail thru-hike dream a reality is to secure a permit for your hike (after figuring out your ideal time frame for when you want to hike it, more on this below).
There are three main ways to get a John Muir Trail permit (going from most to least ‘popular’, but let’s be honest, they are all super popular these days):
Northbound from Horseshoe Meadows via Cottonwood Pass or Cottonwood Lakes (this is the permit I ultimately got and hiked with)
In this post, I’ll walk you through the logistics of each option so you know what you need to do to score a John Muir Trail Permit for the 2024 hiking season. Make sure to check out my John Muir Trail Resupply Guide next to help plan your trip!
If you’re interested in what gear I brought, check out my John Muir Trail Gear List (lightweight)! Or if you’re interested in my Pacific Crest Trail Gear List, check out Pacific Crest Trail 2022 Final Gear List (almost ultralight, 10.97 lbs).
How to Get a John Muir Trail Permit for the 2024 Hiking Season
Determine Your Ideal Timeframe to Hike
No matter which permits you apply to, you must know your desired start date and approximately how many days you’ll be hiking. The optimal time to hike the John Muir Trail is typically July through September, but it varies year to year depending on the winter season’s snowfall.
June is a little early and most years you will encounter a lot of snow. In July, the snow is likely still lingering, you will have harder river crossings due to snowmelt, it’s usually mosquito season (also due to snowmelt), but the weather is usually good. In August, the snow will likely be melted, there will be nice weather with occasional afternoon thunderstorms, and no mosquitoes (my experience in August 2021). In September, the weather is still good but it’s starting to get a bit chillier (be prepared for potential snow). *Disclaimer: the weather and snow conditions can all vary greatly year to year and none of the above is guaranteed. I recommend checking trail reports and trail conditions prior to your hike so you can properly prepare.
On average, people take three weeks to hike the John Muir Trail, hiking about 10-12 miles per day. Some people will also take “zero-days”, which are full days off usually spent in town. I hiked it in 2 weeks, averaging 18 miles per day, and took no zero-days. For information on my resupply strategy, check out my John Muir Trail Resupply Guide!
The 3 Main Ways to Apply for a John Muir Trail Permit:
1. Southbound out of Yosemite National Park
Hiking southbound (north to south) is by far the most desired way to hike the John Muir Trail, starting out of Yosemite Valley and hiking south to Mount Whitney. This is the traditional John Muir Trail route and is 210 miles long from the Happy Isles Trailhead in Yosemite to the summit of Mount Whitney (221 miles total to Whitney Portal). Hiking southbound also allows you to gradually increase elevation which allows for acclimating to higher elevations over time, and you’ll reach the highest point on the trail, Mount Whitney, as the grand finale. In previous years, the majority of southbound permit applications were rejected due to the sheer volume of people who applied.
Where to Apply for a Southbound JMT Permit:
Southbound John Muir Trail permits are obtained via recreation.gov and are issued through a weekly lottery system. The Yosemite National Park Wilderness Permit Application can be accessed here. Permit applications must be submitted 24 weeks in advance of your desired entry date. You can apply up to eight (8) date/entry point combo choices when submitting your application.
Lottery Information:
Each group may submit one application to each weekly lottery window and multiple applications for the same lottery are not allowed. You may submit up to eight preferred itineraries per application (explained in more detail below), with only one itinerary being awarded per week (the more choices specified, the higher chance you have of getting a permit). The application period is from Sunday at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time to Saturday at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time. Email notification of the outcome will be sent by the following Monday. If you are awarded a lottery permit, you must confirm your reservation by Thursday at 11:59 p.m. Any remaining reservable quota for each lottery window will be released and available for reservation to others on Fridays at 9:00 a.m.
When Should You Apply for a Southbound JMT Permit?
Here is a chart that outlines the different reservation windows based on your desired start date:
Southbound Entry Point Selection:
The John Muir Trail continues south out of Yosemite National Park via Donahue Pass, which has a quota on how many people can exit per day. This means your southbound (SOBO) permit must be Donahue Pass eligible to continue hiking south on the JMT. You must apply for a permit for one of the following entry points:
Happy Isles -> Past LYV (Donahue Pass Eligible)
First-night camping: At least two miles past Little Yosemite Valley (Marine Dome or Half Dome/John Muir Trail junction).
This is the “official” start of the John Muir Trail, also meaning it is the most desired and most competitive entry point for the JMT.
Lyell Canyon (Donahue Pass Eligible)
First-night camping: Upper Lyell Canyon
Starts at mile marker 23 on the John Muir Trail, so you miss the first few miles of the JMT
While you miss the first section of the JMT, you also don’t have to start your hike with the huge climb out of Yosemite Valley. The first several miles out of Lyell Canyon are very flat, which is a great way to ease into your hike.
STEPS TO APPLY FOR A SOUTHBOUND PERMIT:
Step 1: Log in to your Recreation.gov account or create one if you don’t have one
Step 2: Go to Recreation.gov’s Yosemite National Park Wilderness Permit page
Step 3: Click “Register for Open Lottery”
Step 4: Fill out Permit Holder information (name, email, phone number, and address) for yourself and add alternate permit holders if you want to (you may select a maximum of 3 other people to act as alternate permit holders)
Step 5: In the “Lottery Preferences” section, input the number of dates you would like to apply for in the “# of Dates” field (You can apply up to 8 choices. I recommend using all 8 choices to give yourself a better chance at winning the lottery)
Step 6: Click “Enter Choices”
Complete Steps #7-10 for each choice:
Step 7: Select either ‘Single Date’ or ‘Date Range’
Single Date: Selecting this option allows you to enter a single date for your application. When evaluating your application for the lottery, the system will look at the selected date for availability. If there is enough availability it will award a permit. If there is not enough availability it will move to the next choice.
Date Range: This allows you to choose a range of dates that you would be willing to use for this permit. When your application is evaluated, the system will start at the beginning of the range to look for an available date. If a date is not available, the system will look at the next date. This will repeat until it finds a date with availability or it reaches the end of the range.
Step 8: Input either your ‘Entry Date’ (if you chose ‘Single Date’ above) or 'First Date Available Within' (if you chose 'Date Range' above)
Step 9: Input your ‘Group Size’
Step 10: Input your ‘Entry Point’. To hike the John Muir Trail, you must choose one of the following entry points so you can go over Donahue Pass (explained above in the ‘Southbound Entry Point Selection’ section):
Happy Isles -> Past LYV (Donahue Pass Eligible)
Lyell Canyon (Donahue Pass Eligible)
Step 11: After your lottery preference choices are completely filled out, read the "Need to Know" information and check the box acknowledging you read and agree to the Need to Know information.
Step 12: Click "Proceed to Cart" and pay the $10 lottery entry fee (if you win the lottery it will be an additional $5 per person when you confirm your reservation). Lottery results will be available the following Monday. If you are awarded a permit, be sure to confirm your reservation by Thursday at 11:59 p.m. PT.
If you are not awarded a permit via the lottery, monitor for cancellations or for groups that did not confirm their reservation by clicking on ‘Explore Available Permits’ on the main Yosemite National Park Wilderness Permit page.
2. Northbound from Whitney Portal
I would say the Whitney Portal permit is the second most coveted John Muir Trail permit, as Mount Whitney is the Southern Terminus of the John Muir Trail. Hiking northbound on the John Muir Trail can be a bit more challenging than southbound if you are not acclimated to higher elevations because you hit some of the highest points on the trail in the first section, e.g. Mount Whitney (14,505 ft) and Forester Pass (13,153 ft).
Similar to the southbound John Muir Trail permit, you apply for a permit to hike northbound from Whitney Portal via a lottery system on Recreation.gov. It's a little bit different than the SOBO permit, though. The lottery application is open from February 1, 2024 - March 1, 2024, for all trip dates between May 1, 2024 to November 1, 2024. The lottery results will then be published on March 15, 2024. If you are awarded a permit from the lottery, you must confirm your permit and pay reservation fees by April 21, 2024. On April 22, 2024, dates that are unclaimed from the lottery will be released for web reservation starting at 7:00 am PT.
Where & When to Apply for a Northbound John Muir Trail Permit from Whitney Portal:
Apply for the Mount Whitney permit lottery on Recreation.gov’s Mt. Whitney Permit page February 1, 2024 - March 1, 2024.
STEPS TO APPLY FOR A NORTHBOUND PERMIT FROM WHITNEY PORTAL:
Step 1: Log in to your Recreation.gov account or create one if you don’t have one (make sure to do this first!)
Step 2: Go to Recreation.gov’s Mt. Whitney Permit page
Step 3: Click “Register for Open Lottery”
Step 4: Fill out Permit Holder information (name, email, phone number, and address) for yourself and add alternate permit holders if you want to (you may select a maximum of 3 other people to act as alternate permit holders)
Step 5: In the “Lottery Preferences” section, input the number of dates you would like to apply for in the “# of Selections” field (You can apply up to 10 choices. I recommend using all 10 choices to give yourself a better chance at winning the lottery)
Step 6: Click “Enter Choices”
Complete Steps #7-9 for each choice:
Important Note: The order you input your choices does matter. When evaluating your application, the system will start with your first choice, and if it finds availability for that choice, it will award you a permit. If it doesn't find availability, it moves to your next choice.
Step 7: In the “Entrance” field, select "Mt. Whitney Trail (Overnight)”.
You must select "Overnight" in order to thru-hike the John Muir Trail from Whitney Portal. This permit includes multi-night trips starting on the classic Mt. Whitney trail, allows camping along the Mt. Whitney Trail, and allows for summiting Mt. Whitney. This permit can be extended to exit at other locations, including the John Muir Trail in Yosemite National Park.
Step 8: Select “Single Date” or “Date Range”
Single Date: This allows you to enter a single date. When evaluating your application, the lottery system will look at the date you entered, and if there is enough availability it will award you a permit. If not, the lottery system will evaluate your next choice.
Date Range (First Date Available Within): Allows you to input a range of dates that you would be willing to start your trip. When your application is evaluated, the lottery system will start at the beginning of the date range you entered to look for an available date. If a date is not available, the system will look at the next date in the date range and repeat until it finds availability in the range you entered or it reaches the end of the date range.
Step 9: Input either your desired start date in the ‘Date’ field or if you selected "Date Range” then your desired date range in the ‘First Date Available Within’ field
Step 10: Input your ‘Group Size’
Step 11: After your lottery preference choices are completely filled out, read the "Need to Know" information and check the box acknowledging you read and agree to the Need to Know information
Step 12: Click "Proceed to Cart" and pay the $6.00 lottery entry fee (if you win the lottery it will be an additional $15 per person when you confirm your reservation).
Make sure to apply by March 1, 2024!
Lottery results will be published on March 15, 2024. If you are awarded a permit, you must confirm your reservation and pay reservation fees (this is the $15/per person fee mentioned in Step 12) by April 21, 2024. If you fail to confirm your reservation, it will be released on April 22, 2024 for other groups to reserve.
If you are not awarded a permit in the lottery, you still have a chance if you can be flexible with your dates. On April 22, 2024, dates that are unclaimed from the lottery will be released for web reservation at 7 am PST.
3. Northbound from Horseshoe Meadows via Cottonwood Pass or Cottonwood Lakes
This is arguably the easiest permit to get to hike the John Muir Trail (but don’t let that fool you, it can still be competitive, especially for the peak seasons of July and August). From Horseshoe Meadows, you can start at either the Cottonwood Pass or Cottonwoods Lakes trailheads. This is the permit I ultimately got for my August 2021 John Muir Trail thru-hike. I did apply for both the other permits (southbound out of Yosemite and northbound out of Whitney Portal), but I did not win either of the lotteries. However, I honestly loved going northbound out of Horseshoe Meadows and felt like it was one of those “everything happens for a reason” experiences.
Something to be aware of is that going northbound out of Horseshoe Meadows will add additional miles to your hike if you plan on hiking all the way to Happy Isles Trailhead in Yosemite National Park and summitting Mount Whitney. If you go this way, you are actually starting your hike south of the official John Muir Trail. You will hike on the Pacific Crest Trail and intersect the John Muir Trail at Crabtree. Starting from Horseshoe Meadows will add roughly 20 miles to your John Muir Trail hike (20.4 miles to Crabtree if starting from Cottonwood Pass Trailhead and 22.5 miles if starting from Cottonwood Lakes Trailhead), not including taking a side trip to Mount Whitney. In order to hike Mount Whitney, you’ll have to do an out-and-back from Crabtree to tag the summit, which adds miles to your trip. From the Crabtree junction, the summit of Mount Whitney is a 7.5-mile hike one-way.
I started from Cottonwood Pass and hiked about 260 miles total (this included extra mileage for resupply at Onion Valley) vs. the standard 221-mile JMT length from Happy Isles to Whitney Portal), but I loved having additional time on the trail.
Where & When to Apply for a Northbound John Muir Trail Permit from Horseshoe Meadows via Cottonwood Pass Trailhead or Cottonwood Lakes Trailhead:
Northbound permits for Cottonwood Pass and Cottonwood Lakes trailheads are reserved via the Inyo National Forest Wilderness Permits page on Recreation.gov. The permits are made available on a 6-month rolling basis for 60% of the available quota (quota is the number of people that can start at each location per day) and then the remaining 40% of the quota is available 2-weeks in advance of the trip dates:
Cottonwood Pass: Quota season for Cottonwood Pass entry point is June 30 - September 15 (the number of people per day is limited). So if you are checking for a permit date that is prior to June 30th (or after September 15th) for Cottonwood Pass, you cannot reserve online and only walk-up permits will be available. There will be 24 permits per day available 6 months in advance for quota season and 16 more will be available 2 weeks in advance.
Cottonwood Lakes: Quota season for Cottonwood Lakes entry point is May 1 - Nov 1. There are 36 permits per day available 6 months in advance in quota season and 24 more will be available 2 weeks in advance.
The permit application opens at 7:00 am Pacific Time each day for the date 6 months in advance. You need to be logged into Recreation.gov ahead of time so right at 7:00 am PT you can select the date and trailhead you want. During the more desired dates (July and August), the permits will likely go within a few minutes, so I recommend practicing the permit application process a couple of times before you apply for your desired date.
Cottonwood Pass vs. Cottonwood Lakes Trails
Both trails start out of Horseshoe Meadows and are roughly the same distance to the John Muir Trail junction at Crabtree. It is 20.4 miles if hiking Cottonwood Pass and 22.5 miles if hiking Cottonwood Lakes. Cottonwood Pass is a bit easier while Cottonwood Lakes is a bit harder but more scenic. Cottonwood Lakes is considered harder because you go over New Army Pass, which is at an elevation of 12,400 ft, with an elevation gain of 2,400 ft over 8.2 miles. Whereas Cottonwood Pass it at an elevation of 11,200 ft, with an elevation gain of 1,200 ft over 3.75 miles.
I got a permit for Cottonwood Pass and I think that was a great way to start the John Muir Trail for me because it wasn’t too hard but was still beautiful.
STEPS TO APPLY FOR A NORTHBOUND PERMIT FROM COTTONWOOD PASS/COTTONWOOD LAKES:
Step 1: Log in to your Recreation.gov account or create one if you don’t have one (make sure to do this first!)
Step 2: Go to Recreation.gov’s Inyo National Forest Wilderness Permits page
Step 3: Click “Explore available permits”
Step 4: Select "No" for the question "Is this a commercial guided trip? This can include an Outfitter, Guide, or pack Outfitter" (unless you are a commercial guided trip, then select 'yes')
Step 5: Select your permit type as “Overnight”
Step 6: Choose your start date
Step 7: Input your group size
Step 8: In the chart, scroll down to “Cottonwood Lakes” or “Cottonwood Pass” and click on the date you want if permits are available.
If permits are available for the date you are trying to get, there will be a number in the box. If only walk-ups are available, it will have a “W” and indicates 40% of the quota will open for reservations 2 weeks before the trip (or in the case of “Cottonwood Pass”, it will say “W” for dates prior to the last Friday in June since that is not quota-season, yet). If the date’s permits have not yet been made available, the box will be gray with a “0”.
Step 9: Click “Book Now” (once you do this, your permit will be held for you for 15 minutes so you can fill out the rest of the application, but if you do not complete it within this time, they will release it and someone else can take it)
Step 10: Fill out Permit Holder information (name, email, phone number, and address) for yourself and add alternate permit holders if you want to (you may select a maximum of 3 other people to act as alternate permit holders)
Step 11: Confirm group size
Step 12: Select your “Exit Point”. To hike the John Muir Trail, you’ll want to select “Happy Isles - Yosemite Valley (Exit Only) Yosemite NP - YOS01”
Step 13: Choose your “Exit Date” based on how many days you plan on taking to hike the trail.
I selected a date a few days later than I actually planned on finishing just to have some wiggle room in case something unexpected happened (i.e. taking an unplanned zero-day (rest day), hiking fewer miles per day than planned, etc.). There’s no issue finishing your hike earlier than what your permit Exit Date says, but you must be off the trail by your selected Exit Date. You can update your “Exit Date” online later, so I wouldn’t worry about it too much when applying for your permit, just make sure it is accurate when you print or pick up your permit.
Step 14: Select your campsites for each night. These can be updated later and they don’t have to be completely accurate. You must at minimum select your first night’s campsite (i.e. I started at Cottonwood Pass and camped at Chicken Spring Lake my first night)
Step 15: Select “Travel Method” of “Foot”
Step 16: Indicate whether or not you are bringing animals on the trip (please note that if you are planning on hiking the full John Muir Trail, it does go through National Parks and dogs are not allowed in National Parks)
Step 17: Read the "Need to Know" information and check the box acknowledging you read and agree to the Need to Know information.
Step 18: Click "Proceed to Cart" and pay the $11 fee.
What I really like about the Northbound Permit is that you know immediately whether or not you get it. If the day you want doesn’t have any available permits, try again the following day and check for cancellations every day.
Conclusion
Getting the permit was honestly the most stressful part of planning my John Muir Trail hike, so I hope this helps you have a smooth permit application process. Make sure to check out my John Muir Trail Resupply Guide to help plan your thru-hike!
Backpacking Gear I Took:
Here is all the gear I brought with me on my John Muir Trail thru-hike!
“Big Four”:
Other Sleep and Shelter Items:
Worn Clothes:
Packed Clothes:
Cooking, Food, & Water:
Repair Kit:
Miscellaneous:
For a full gear review, check out: John Muir Trail Gear List (lightweight)!
Disclaimer: Some of the links in this blog post are affiliate links, meaning I receive a small percentage of every purchase at no additional cost to you. Read more about my affiliate policy here.
