Beginning March 15 you'll be able to go online to request a permit to hike the Wonderland Trail around Mount Rainier this summer/Rebecca Latson

Beginning March 15 you'll be able to go online and submit a request for a permit to hike the Wonderland Trail around Mount Rainier National Park this summer.

The reservation request form will open on the park’s Wilderness Permit webpage at 9 a.m. Pacific Time on Wednesday, March 15. Requests received from March 15 through March 31 will be processed in random order beginning on April 1. All requests received on or after April 1 will be processed in the order received, after March requests are processed. Applicants will receive a confirmation of their electronic submission within one business day. Once park staff review requests, applicants will be updated via email regarding the status.

Visitors can only submit online requests. The park will not accept requests received by standard mail, fax, phone, or other delivery methods. Applicants will also be directed to pay for reservations, once approved, online through a secure government portal.

The park will review only one full-circuit Wonderland Trail trip request per email address. Each request allows applicants to submit several trip alternatives. If the park receives more than one full-circuit Wonderland Trail request from the same email address, staff will only review the first request received.

Applicants should use the Wilderness Trip Planner and updates found on the park website to plan their trip before submitting reservation requests. As in prior years, some campsites will be temporarily closed due to potentially hazardous trees. The park typically mitigates these hazards in the summer, after snowmelt allows access.

This year’s process is the first step in a phased solution to upgrading the park’s reservation system. The park continues to work on an online reservation system wherein users can see real-time site availability while requesting their reservation.