Tips for Walk-up Permits and First-Come, First-Served Campgrounds
As a planner who likes to have things confirmed before going somewhere, the idea of getting a walk-up permit or staying at a first-come, first-served campground is anxiety-producing. I always think “What if I don’t get my first choice? What if there are no more spots/permits available? What if it’s a terrible campsite compared to other good ones?” Although valid questions, these questions have been holding me back from going to do incredible things because I’ve been afraid to try! Finally, a friend and I decided to try a weekend of first-come, first-served campground and permits in Rainier National Park. Guess what?! It was totally successful and we had a wonderful weekend!
I firmly believe that nature should be available to all people, but with many of the permits only available 6+ months in advance, it is limiting and I often feel locked into a date, despite the weather. The National Park Service seems to understand this, by offering walk-up permits and some of their campgrounds be first-come, first-serve. In this post, I will provide tips for utilizing these systems, based on my August 2021 experience in Rainier National Park, and is an addition to my previous post about planning a backpacking trip well in advance. Check out those posts:
- Planning a Backpacking Trip in Advance, Based on my experience in Grand Teton National Park
- Backpacking to Glacier Basin, Rainier National Park
- Fremont Lookout Sunrise Hike, Rainier National Park
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Tips for Walk-up Permits and First-Come, First-Served Campgrounds
Tip 1: Go into it prepared
Though you are planning a “last-minute” trip as compared to getting permits months in advance, I recommend that you still do *some* research so you give yourself the best chance at getting the walk-up permit or spot you like AND being prepared for your time in the National Park. A couple of days before your trip, see if you can answer the following questions, so that you’ll be prepared when speaking with the ranger.
Questions for trying to get a walk-up permit:
- When do the walk-up permits become available?
- Where do you talk with the ranger/pick up the walk-up permits?
- Do you have a sense of the national park and where you want to backpack?
- What is your top choice, and three secondary options?
- Are you physically able to hike to all of your favorites?
- Do you have all the right gear for your options?
It’s also good to look up the wildlife requirements for the national park. An example of this is whether you need a bear box to hang your gear, etc. The ranger will likely review these requirements, but it’s nice to decide ahead of time if you want to bring your own bear bag or check out one of theirs (if they have them available).
Questions for trying to get a spot at drive-up campground:
- What campgrounds have first-come, first serve sites available?
- Where are those campgrounds located in the park?
- How many sites are available at each campground?
- When is the typical “check out” time?
- How much does it cost to stay at the campground? Do you need cash to pay?
- Are campfires allowed?
- What’s your backup plan?
Tip 2: Arrive as early as possible
Depending on the destination, the walk-up permits can be competitive. To give yourself the best advantage, arrive as soon as they are available. For Rainier, the backcountry walk-up permits were available the day before, and the ranger station opened at 7:00 am. However, there are three different ranger stations, so we presumed people would be at each one vying for various permits. With this in mind, we arrived at the ranger station at 7:00 am on Friday to try to get Saturday night permits. Surprisingly, there was a line ahead of us, so we did not speak with the ranger until 7:30 am. Our top choices were on the Wonderland Trail, which is particularly busy and somewhat complicated by people hiking the iconic loop. After some back and forth with the ranger, we settled on our third choice at Glacier Basin, a lovely 7.2-mile hike.
Then we immediately went to snag a spot at the White River Campground at about 8:15 or 8:30 am. Compared to the line at the Ranger Station, the campground was still very much asleep. On a Friday morning, there were at least 10 spots available (with more people packing up, while we drove around the loops). We had trouble deciding which one to get! Read the signs at the entrance of the campground to learn how to secure your chosen spot. This normally includes filling out a little envelope with information and cash payment, then coming back to put some gear out.
You can also call the ranger station days before to see when they recommend you to arrive at the first-come, first-served campground. While picking up the backcountry permit, the ranger we spoke with said not to dawdle, but we should have options at 8:30 am.
Tip 3: Understand the rules/nuances
Although I don’t think you’ll ever go wrong with arriving early or doing a bit of research before you arrive, also pay attention to the nuances of the experiences for future reference. For example, at the campground, not everyone leaves at the same time. Some people might pack up at 7 am, while others do so at 10 am. So you could roll in at 10 am and get the best spot in the campground. At this campground, there is another way to see when each person was leaving – the little number posts. Each campsite is numbered with a post, clip, and paper. The paper had a handwritten date on it, referring to the date the campers at that spot were leaving. If a campground looks full, take a look at the posts and confirm with the campers if they are leaving.
Then, for the backcountry walk-up permits, every time we passed the ranger station, we never saw anyone waiting outside! I wish I would have asked how many spots were available at Glacier Basin to get a sense of how quickly the permits get picked up, but we were so excited to get *something* that I didn’t think about it at the time. Other nuances include: weekdays being far easier to get a camp spot than weekends, state parks are easier than national parks, and BLM land is easier than state parks.
These nuances might not be helpful during your first time getting the backcountry permit or first-come, first-serve campsite. But every time is great practice, and perhaps they can help alleviate anxiety in the future!
Tip 4: Have a Backup Plan, and a Backup-Backup Plan
No matter how you slice it, it will be a gamble to get a backcountry walk-up permit OR first-come, first-served campground in a National Park. Always have a backup plan ready to go and maybe even a backup to the backup plan. For example, if we didn’t get the Glacier Basin permits, we likely would have stayed in the White River Campground for two nights instead of one. And if we didn’t get a spot at the White River Campground, we likely would have camped on BLM land that surrounds Rainier National Park. And our final backup-backup-backup plan would be to simply return to Seattle and stay at my friend’s house.
Camping/staying somewhere else would necessitate more driving and is not ideal. However, it also provided me peace of mind to have options available. Even if the worst-case scenario happened and we had to drive back to Seattle, we could still enjoy the day in Rainier National Park.
Take a look at other options as backup plans, such as:
- Other first-come, first-served campgrounds
- A nearby State Park
- Nearby BLM Land
- Nearby RV Park
- Airbnb
- Hotel (check Hotel Tonight as well)
Tip 5: Remember, Where You Sleep is Only One Part of the Trip
Even with perfect planning, you still might not get your first chosen spot or a spot at all. You might have to wait in lines with precious daylight hours ticking away. I feel in these moments, it’s especially important to keep a positive mindset, find the silver linings, and roll with the punches. Getting angry or upset isn’t going to help anyone or the situation. Instead, it is all one big adventure and possibly a good story to tell in the future. And next time, you’ll likely plan the trip in advance, so you can guarantee your spot.
For me, I have to remind myself that my campground doesn’t need to be the *best* or the most photogenic. Because of my blog and picture-perfect campgrounds on Instagram, I often put undue pressure on myself to get the best campground. Is this a good way to approach a night outdoors? Nope! So what helps is to remind myself that where I am sleeping is only one part of the trip and that the more important thing is the adventures to be had during the day.
Overall Thoughts: Walk-up Permits & First-Come, First-Served Campgrounds in National Parks
As someone who likes to have a plan, it was SO GOOD for me to do a full weekend utilizing the systems to enjoy a national park without pre-booking anything. Yes, we did prepare and do research ahead of time to give ourselves the best chance possible for the walk-up permit and campground, but it was a nice change to my normal months-in-advance preparations. Honestly, it opened my eyes to all of the potential last-minute trips that I could be taking! Although I will probably still try to get things on the books ahead of time, I hope to fill in the gaps with more last-minute trips.
But if this all sounds overwhelming or the gamble is still to high, check out my other post about planning a backpacking trip well in advance and the things I did in Rainier National Park:
- Planning a Backpacking Trip in Advance, Based on my experience in Grand Teton National Park
- Backpacking to Glacier Basin, Rainier National Park
- Fremont Lookout Sunrise Hike, Rainier National Park
- Or check out all of my Washington Posts
What other tips do you have for snagging a walk-up permit or first-come, first-served campground in a National Park?? Let me and other readers know in the comments so that we can all be better at simply heading out for the weekend without anything pre-booked!
Happy Travels,
Hanna
