Mt Whitney Lottery 2017                    


Link to:  Mt Whitney 2018 Lottery

Update May 3:  There were quite a few day hike permits available. (Possibly the day use permits weren't released until May 2.) Overnight permits have mostly been taken.

Also note: The administrative fee charged by the Recreation.gov website has gone up from $6 to $10. You can see a notice to this effect on the Recreation.gov page for Inyo National Forest.

Update April 3:  The "mini-on-sale" option on April 1 has passed. Any permits not reserved in the lottery were available at 7 AM April 1.
Next important date is May 1: All unclaimed lottery dates are canceled and released for web reservations (space is released within 24 hours at a random time).
Here are links to check what is available:   DAY USE of Mt. Whitney Zone and Mt. Whitney Trail Overnight Permit

Update March 24:  The lottery has been run, people have been sent an email informing them of their individual results.

        Post-Lottery statistics  (Inyo N.F. PDF is here)
Quote:
                            2017 Lottery Results
15,397  applications submitted (13% more than 2016),   69,125 hikers.
    35%  of Group Leaders were Awarded a Date of their Choice
  3,285  won their first choice date.
  2,110  won an alternate choice.
    65%  of Applications were Unsuccessful
  9,414  unsuccessful: the dates requested were full when the application processed.
     499  Applications withdrawn -- leader already won a date in this year's lottery.
      89  Applications withdrawn by the group leader.


New this year (2017): If your permit qualifies for night box service you can also pre-arrange for express pickup during open hours. (Overnight trips into Sequoia N.P. do not qualify -- face-to-face pickup is required.)

Lottery applications: Inyo N.F. asks that you only make a single application. They actively look for multiple entries and delete them.

Inyo National Forest's lottery information web page:  Mount Whitney Lottery - Permit Reservations

Here is the link to enter the lottery.

Good luck everyone!
Scroll down to see more info on the Whitney Portal Road rock slide and considerations regarding early dates in the lottery.


Lottery Progress Report: As of March 8   12,000 applications, 54,000 hikers
Lottery results will be posted after March 24th
Inyo N.F. has posted a pdf page showing stats as March 8, link is on their Mount Whitney Lottery page.
11,852 applications submitted, (53,938 hikers)
As of March 1: 9,800 applications, 44,800 hikers.
As of Feb 22: 1,500 more than last year.
Click here to see the report.

Numbers:   When you consider all alternate choices on applications, more than 4,200 people want to day hike on August 12, and more than 5,000 people want Mt. Whitney Trail overnight permits for September 2.



2016 lottery thread is here.

From the 2016 lottery:

2016 Mt Whitney Permit Lottery Results

13,638 applications submitted
5,010 (36%) were successful

3,134 won first choice date (34% were day use,66% overnight)
1,876 won alternate choices.