SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) – Winter is the season for thinking ahead to summer adventures that require a special permit or reservations.
Campers seeking to stay at popular national park or national forest cabins, lookouts and campgrounds generally can make reservations up to 180 days in advance of the date of arrival.
That means on-the-ball planners already are making reservations as far out as August at popular parks such as Grand Canyon, Glacier and Yellowstone or nifty rooms with a view such as Sex Peak or Gem Peak fire lookouts in the Kootenai National Forest.
Camping areas for large groups also can be booked in advance.
These and other reservations, including many of the lottery drawing applications, are made on the National Recreation Reservation System, (877) 444-6777 or recreation.gov.
However, not every choice destination is onboard with the national online system. For example, backpacking the classic Wonderland Trail around Mount Rainier requires sending applications by letter or fax to the park.
Reservations are advised but not required in Canyonlands National Park for campsites along the White Rim Road and for backcountry camping in the Needles district. Competition is greatest for White Rim trips during the spring and fall and Needles backpacking trips during spring. Reservations can be made online at canypermits.nps.gov up to four months in advance (June 1 for an Oct. 1 trip) and two days before the trip start date.
Those wanting to climb the cable route up Half Dome in Yosemite National Park this summer can apply for reservations through a lottery than will begin Sunday and will go through the month of March. That can be done through recreation.gov. The lottery results are posted April 13. The cables are scheduled to be up from May 22 to Oct. 13 this year, conditions permitting.
National forests throughout the country have many historic cabins and fire lookouts in their national rental program. Most are accessible by road, but some must be reached by muscle power on a trail.
National forest cabin fees start at $40 a night, although a $55 fee is being charged for the Kelly Forks Cabin and $60 for Red Ives because of their choice locations along popular fishing streams in Idaho.
National park campsites and cabins also can be made through recreation.gov, but there are major exceptions.
Yellowstone National Park, for example, has its own reservation system at tinyurl.com/YNPreserve or call toll-free, (866) 439-7375.
For Grand Canyon National Park reservations, you also can check out www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/lodging.htm, as well as recreation.gov.
State parks have their own reservations systems. Among the state parks in Southwest Colorado are Navajo, south of Ignacio; and Mancos, just north of Mancos at Jackson Gulch Reservoir.
In all, there are more than 3,900 campsites and 50 cabins and yurts at state parks in Colorado, at elevations ranging from approximately 3,800 to 9,400. To see all the options, visit https://cpw.state.co.us/placestogo/parks/Pages/ParkMap.aspx. For reservations or more information, call (303) 470-1184 or visit http://cpw.state.co.us/buyapply/Pages/Reservations.aspx.
Mount St. Helens climbing permits, which went on sale in early February, are administered by Mount St. Helens Institute, mshinstitute.org, through an online vendor.
Mount Rainier National Park requires permits for climbing and wilderness campsites, and reservations are recommended. About 70 percent of the available wilderness permits can be reserved, while the remaining 30 percent are issued on a first-come, first-served basis.
All campsites along the 93-mile Wonderland Trail that circumnavigates the mountain are so popular, a special lottery is held. Applications received by letter or fax March 15-April 1 are processed in random order. Applications received by the park after April 1 are processed in order after the early applications are assigned. Details: tinyurl.com/WonderTrail.
Herald Outdoors Editor John Peel contributed to this report.
