Wyoming – Tips for Planning a Backpacking Trip in a National Park
When I was a tried and true day hiker, I always thought it would be impossibly difficult to plan a backpacking trip, especially in another state. Yes, it’s a multi-step process, but it is absolutely possible. Over the last couple of years, I began to travel to other states to backpack in various destinations like Havasupai in Arizona, the Enchantments in Washington, Olympic National Park in Washington, and Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. I wanted to use my Wyoming trip as a base to planning a backpacking trip as it was a little more complicated. By complicated, I mean that it was out of state and included flying, is a popular destination with competitive permits, and we created our own route.
Elements that you’ll need to plan a backpacking trip in a national park:
- Backpacking Permits
- Travel to the destination (Flights, rental cars, etc.)
- Any additional accommodations (do you need a campground or hotel before or after your backpacking trip)
- Proper gear and food
- Physical ability to make the backpacking trip
I will touch on each of these items within the following tips. In August 2021, I went to Rainier National Park and relied on Walk-Up Permits and a First-Come First-Served Campground. Although riskier, it is also very possible to make a successful trip at the last minute. I’ll link that post as soon as it’s up!
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Wyoming – Tips for Planning a Backpacking Trip in a National Park
Tip 1: Begin Planning the Year Before
Especially for popular destinations like Grand Teton National Park, it’s a good idea to begin planning your trip well in advance. I’m talking about 6 months to a year before you want to make a particular backpacking trip. I say this for a couple of reasons: for popular destinations and especially National Parks, you’ll need to secure backpacking permits. And unfortunately, securing the permits is different with each destination. It’s important to begin researching what you need to get the permit and when they become available. Sometimes they are available on a 6-month on a rolling basis; other times, they are released all on the same day for the entire season. For Grand Teton National Park, the backpacking permits become available in early January each year. So each year, around October and November, I get in touch with my backpacking friends and gauge interest and availability.
To prep for getting a permit, you’ll need:
- Likely a recreation.gov account
- Dates
- Your route**
- How many people will be going
- The trailhead you will start and end at
- An understanding of where you will need to pick up the permit when you are there in person
Sometimes during the planning phases, it is good to look up any additional travel information you need, such as flights and other accommodations you might need. I would resist booking these items until you have the permits secured, but it is helpful to know costs in the early stages.
Tip 2: Get to Know Your Route
Sometimes the route you want to do is a well-trodden path with write-ups galore. Other times, you might want to explore a lesser-traveled area or make a loop instead of an out-and-back. Either way, it is good to decide a route and become familiar with it well in advance, especially for group travel, where people might be at different fitness levels and need more training time.
When creating a route from scratch, take a look at:
- What partial routes already exist on places like AllTrails and using a Google search. For the loop we did in Grand Teton National Park, I utilized two different AllTrails maps.
- Cross-reference to the Nation Park Planning Maps for ideas and distances.
- Double-cross-reference to an elevation map, so your elevation gain on each day.
- Consider purchasing a detailed physical map of the area or save maps on your cell phone at the time of research.
Route Considerations:
- Are you doing it as a loop, out-and-back, or through-hike?
- What trailhead(s) will you start and end?
- Are there seasonal considerations like snow or thunderstorms that will affect your dates?
- Are there designated backcountry campgrounds? Or is it free-camping? Do you need to select specific campgrounds each night? If so, be sure to know which ones are your first choice.
- Is everyone in your group comfortable with the daily mileage and elevation gain that you are attempting?
- What are your ideal dates for the trip? And what are your backup dates?
It might feel weird to be researching in November in the year before your July trip, but all of this information and understanding will make you more prepared to secure the permits and for the trip in general.
Tip 3: Secure the Permits the MOMENT They Become Available
Set up reminder alarms or emails to be able to book your permit the moment it becomes available. Do NOT delay. If the permits become available at 7:00 am on January 6th, I recommend logging in at 6:45 am with a credit card and route information handy. Popular places with limited permits will be snatched up immediately!! When I got permits for Havasupai in 2019, I checked the next day and the entire season was gone. It was as competitive as getting concert tickets.
For the Grand Teton National Park backpacking permits, we ended up booking at the end of January instead of when the permits became available. Not ideal. Permits for the popular Cascade-Paintbrush loop were completely gone, with other sites disappearing by the day. We ultimately utilized what campgrounds were available to create a loop in the backcountry, selecting specific camping zones. I am delighted with the decision but wish we had done the steps to prepare and logged on as soon as they become available. We can all strive to be the ultimate most prepared, and if we fall short, we will still be at least somewhat prepared… or at least that is my thinking!
Tip 4: Once you have the Permits, Book Additional Travel Necessities
In specific ways, securing the permits so far in advance gives you time to build the rest of your trip around the backpacking portion. Book your flights, get the rental car, and any additional accommodations, if necessary! It can be handy to have a night before or after the backpacking portion secured at a campground, Airbnb, or hotel when traveling long distances. On pretty much every backpacking trip, having accommodations nearby the night before has been helpful. It allowed me and my friends to stop by the ranger station/visitor center/wilderness Information center to get the permit the day before and get an early start on the first day of our backpacking trip.
For the Grand Teton National Park Trip, I randomly snagged a car camping campground in the Signal Mountain campground a couple of months before the trip. The car-camping campgrounds have their own rules for booking and fill up in the popular summer months. Don’t delay booking this step as well.
Tip 5: Have an In-Depth Convo with the Ranger
Depending on the destination, and definitely in National Parks, you will need to pick up your backpacking permit in person. Sometimes this feels like an annoying extra step when you are eager to get on the trails, but it is an excellent opportunity to speak with a Ranger about the trail! The ranger will review backpacking practices, location-specific and trail-specific information. Be sure to ask any questions you might have about bear activity, water sources, etc. I always feel way more prepared once I speak with a ranger!
The ranger we spoke to in Grand Teton National Park was phenomenal. I wish I remembered his name so you can ask for him. Since our route was not the typical path, he mentally prepared us for a 6-mile climb that we were about to embark on the next day. He marked on maps exactly where various water sources were and areas that were completely barren. And finally, he warned us about mosquitos, other critters, and the incredible views.
Some sample questions to ask if the ranger you speak to isn’t as talkative:
- What is the bear/dangerous animal activity like lately?
- Where is the nearest water source to each location?
- Is there snow on the trail?
- Is there anything else we should look out for – views, water, mosquitos, etc?
- What’s your favorite hike in the area?
- Can I get a bear canister? (If you need one and they are available at the place you pick up the permits.)
Also, take a look around when you pick up the permit at additional boards of information. A lot of times there will be whiteboards with daily temperatures, which water sources are still running/available, or daily temperatures. At the Grand Teton National Park Visitor center, there was a physical elevation map, where it helped me realize how much elevation we were about to embark on.
Tip 6: Prep for Location-Specific Dangers – Grizzly and Marmot Aware
Hopefully, your pre-trip research prepared you for what you’ll need, but it’s also good to do a last-minute refresher on any location-specific dangers and what to do. Think heat, cold, water, bugs, and animals. For example, making sure you have a bear canister or bear bag plan for bears. Or being scorpion-aware in deserts.
Two new things I encountered in Grand Teton National Park were preparing for grizzly bears and marmots. The steps to prepare for Grizzlies and Marmots were not super different from what I was used to – using a bear canister, not keeping fragrant things in the tent, and the regular leave no trace principles. However, we did need to eat our dinner far away from the tent and hang anything we sweat on in the trees. Sure enough, a marmot came along to watch us eat dinner! The backpack, shoes, and poles I hung in the tree were because the marmots will nibble on anything salty.
Tip 7: If you’re flying to the destination, prep your bags accordingly
I’ve now flown with my backpacking gear a handful of times, and each time it gets a little easier. To ensure I can get through TSA without issue, I typically check one (or two bags when flying Southwest!) and only keep clothes and soft items in my carry-on. I put poles, kitchen gear like stove and pot, food, tent, boots, and whatever else fits in the checked bag. You will need to buy fuel at your destination, but you can bring one small lighter on your person. In addition to fuel, the other thing I always buy or get at the destination is water.
The trickiest part of flying with gear is staying organized and with separate clothes for backpacking vs. before/after backpacking. I use packing cubes to keep like-things together and separate from other like-things. My other tip for packing for a backpacking trip is to split it across multiple days during the week before the trip. Do food one day, gear the next, clothes on a new day, toiletries, and putting it all together.
Overall Thoughts: Tips for Planning a Backpacking Trip
See, that wasn’t so bad, right?! The major hurdles are getting the permits and getting the gear. After those two things are in place, planning a backpacking trip should become increasingly easy. In my mind, it is just another skill that I get better at, the more I do it. Another suggestion is to work up to planning an out-of-state trip. First, start with a local single-night trip that doesn’t have any major hiking. Then a couple of nights where you’re based in the same spot. And finally, work up to multiple nights in multiple spots with more hiking. Check out your local REI and Sierra club, which often provides workshops to introduce you to backpacking!
I utilized my Grand Teton National Park backpacking as the inspiration for this blog post. To read more about the loop, check it out here.
I won’t deny that planning a backpacking trip feels like more work than a trip where you’re doing day hikes because you have the added work of getting the gear and food together. However, once you do this a couple of times, you will start to create a rhythm and little “homes” for each item of gear, making it easier to pack and find things while traveling and backpacking. And before you know it, you’ll be a pro at securing permits and backpacking in all of the national parks.
What other tips do you have for planning a backpacking trip?? Let me and other readers know in the comments so that we can all be better at planning a backpacking trip in the future. What other tips do you have for planning a backpacking trip from scratch? Follow me on Instagram for more updates!
Happy Travels,
Hanna
