2021 Wilderness Camping Permits

Are you a seasoned hiker, or just starting out? Let us know your questions or experience with the backcountry permit process.

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zozeppelin
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2021 Wilderness Camping Permits

Post by zozeppelin »

Yes, they have renamed Backcountry to Wilderness Camping (but kept the url: https://www.nps.gov/glac/planyourvisit/ ... ations.htm).

Read into the rename how you'd like (or not like).

Website blurb:

"Glacier National Park is tentatively planning to offer 2021 wilderness permit advance reservations as it has in the years prior to 2020. Park managers are hopeful that "normal" wilderness access will resume this summer, however managers will assess all park operations in light of the evolving COVID-19 situation."

DawsonPass62 noted Goat Haunt entry/exit is closed for 2021.
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Re: 2021 Wilderness Camping Permits

Post by zozeppelin »

Some more updates:
Only difference I can tell is the Blackfeet addendum:

Entering The Park from the Blackfeet
Indian Reservation
A Conservation/Recreation Use Permit
is required for all recreational activities
on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. A
separate permit is required for fishing on
the reservation. For further information call
(406) 338-7207.
  • A new wilderness page: link
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Re: 2021 Wilderness Camping Permits

Post by Sue Z »

Thanks for the update! After skipping the "Summer of Covid," I've got high hopes for this year.

Be well.
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Re: 2021 Wilderness Camping Permits

Post by DawsonPass62 »

Just checked the backcountry/wilderness camping website, and some sites are going away. The park must be processing the large group sites that were submitted on March 1. You might want to check the site before you send in your application on March 15.

https://www.nps.gov/applications/glac/b ... bcmap.html
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Re: 2021 Wilderness Camping Permits

Post by zozeppelin »

Thanks for the heads up. Supposedly only large group permits are issued each year ... how many sites can they take up?

Exciting that they are processing applications nevertheless.

This Link has the eye chart of what was taken (download to zoom in, the resolution should be good enough). Beyond Lower Quartz and Coal Creek for a week each, looks like onesy twosy impact.
Last edited by zozeppelin on Thu Mar 04, 2021 7:51 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: 2021 Wilderness Camping Permits

Post by Sue Z »

Yes! Glad the system is up and running!
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Re: 2021 Wilderness Camping Permits

Post by DawsonPass62 »

The park can issue up to 5 large group permits per year. These groups use 3 campsites/day, so for a 5 night trip, they take 15 sites. Also, the normal limit of reservable sites is waived. With regular permits, half of the sites are reservable, but large groups can take 3/night, which affects both the regular reservation process and walk-up reservations.
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Re: 2021 Wilderness Camping Permits

Post by zozeppelin »

Agreed. What I was trying to type was that there didn't appear to be much of an impact beyond Coal Creek, Lower Quartz, Ole Creek, Arrow Lake (x2) for week long blocks. The rest seemed scattered such that any itinerary could work +/- a day.

Some of those camps and lengths seem a bit random, so I wonder if they are maintenance related.

Good observation though, would not be ideal to submit a permit request that is dead on arrival.
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Re: 2021 Wilderness Camping Permits

Post by teapot57 »

Many dates had disappeared before March 1 when Large Group permits opened up. Likely for trail crew, research groups, and perhaps Glacier Guides get dibs on a few.
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Re: 2021 Wilderness Camping Permits

Post by PeteE »

DawsonPass62 wrote: Wed Mar 03, 2021 8:10 am Just checked the backcountry/wilderness camping website, and some sites are going away. The park must be processing the large group sites that were submitted on March 1. You might want to check the site before you send in your application on March 15.

https://www.nps.gov/applications/glac/b ... bcmap.html
The date is now March 17th, not March 15th.

https://www.nps.gov/glac/planyourvisit/backcountry.htm
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Re: 2021 Wilderness Camping Permits

Post by PeteE »

None of the campgrounds I'm thinking about have been touched except GUN has a few gone.
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Re: 2021 Wilderness Camping Permits

Post by paul »

teapot57 wrote: Fri Mar 05, 2021 10:15 am Many dates had disappeared before March 1 when Large Group permits opened up. Likely for trail crew, research groups, and perhaps Glacier Guides get dibs on a few.
From my experience trail crew don't use the designated campsites. Years back I camped a couple nights at UPK, the trail crew was there but they setup in their own area not in the actual sites. They even hung the food in a separate area too. It was just me and the trail crew.

Those were the days when you could have a place like UPK to yourself in prime season.
We are in the mountains and the mountains are in us. - John Muir
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Re: 2021 Wilderness Camping Permits

Post by teapot57 »

Good to know, Paul! I always attributed the sites taken early to park workers like trail crew.
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Re: 2021 Wilderness Camping Permits

Post by paul »

On the other hand maybe this has changed in recent years.
We are in the mountains and the mountains are in us. - John Muir
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Re: 2021 Wilderness Camping Permits

Post by DawsonPass62 »

We had a trail crew at No Name about 10 years ago who were staying there, but they had a site back in the woods a bit. I wouldn't have known it was there as they had to walk off trail to get there. At Cobalt Lake, we had to share a site with some researchers as it was overbooked, so they definitely get some of the sites. Haven't run into either in the past few years, but haven't been out as much either.
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