Now is the time to begin planning your backcountry adventure in Mount Rainier National Park/NPS

Winter is the perfect time to begin planning a backpacking adventure, and if Mount Rainier National Park is on your list of possible destinations, you can start planning to apply for a backcountry reservation.

Beginning March 15 you'll be able to apply for a backcountry permit for wilderness camping and climbing permits, including overnight trips on the Wonderland Trail. 

The reservation request form will open on the park’s Wilderness Permit webpage a 9 a.m. Pacific Time on Thursday, March 15. Requests received from March 15 through March 31 will be processed in random order. Requests received after March 31 will be reviewed in the order received, if any reservations remain. 

In 2017, the park received a record number of requests for the Wonderland Trail circuit. The park stopped taking requests for advanced reservations to hike the circuit on April 1. Visitors interested in hiking the Wonderland Trail circuit in 2018 are encouraged to apply during the first two weeks.  

The park is now charging a nonrefundable application fee of $20 for each reservation request. If a reservation is confirmed, no additional wilderness reservation fee is due. The revenue will support the operations of the park’s three Wilderness Information Centers and the ongoing development of a new reservation system. This online reservation system will allow users to see real-time site availability while requesting reservations.  

Applicants must pay the application fee and obtain a confirmation code before submitting a reservation request. Payments are made online through a secure government portal at Pay.gov. Any requests to camp above 10,000 feet also require payment of the annual Mount Rainier Climbing Fee. More information about the climbing program is available on the park’s website.