Yellowstone National Park Backcountry Guide – Key Dates & Permit Application Process

The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem covers nearly 12 million acres of northwest Wyoming and the bordering areas of Montana and Idaho. Yellowstone National Park, while gigantic in its own right, merely contains some 2.2 million of those acres, while the Caribou-Targhee National Forest, Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, Bridger-Teton National Forest, Gallatin National Forest, Custer National Forest, Shoshone National Forest, and Grand Teton National Park buttress it on all sides.

Within those National Forests are several designated wilderness areas, areas that gained more distinct preservation status through the Wilderness Act of 1964. The Teton Wilderness, Jedediah Smith Wilderness, Washakie Wilderness, North Absaroka Wilderness, Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness, Lee Metcalf Wilderness, and Winegar Hole Wilderness carry their own particular set of restrictions different than those of the National Parks regarding hiking, camping, and permitting for such activities, but what’s often overlooked is that you can simply keep walking – and camping – between the different areas so long as you carry the correct permits (and are prepared for the journey).

While there are always a few specific locations where regulations differ, the gist of designated wilderness area rules is this – you can hike where you want, camp where you want, and spend up to two weeks where you want, so long as you abide by Leave No Trace principles. Designated wilderness areas also prohibit all motorized vehicles, as well as bicycles, in an effort to minimize the impact we humans impose upon them.

As I mentioned at the start of this, some 9.5 million of the 12 million acres in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem reside outside of the two National Parks in the area, hence why I laid out the more basic rules of the acreage surrounding them. Hiking, backpacking, and camping in the National Forests and designated wilderness areas is much more simple and easily dealt with as you walk-up to trailheads.

Should you want to loop your backpacking trip from those areas into Yellowstone – or keep your trek contained entirely within park boundaries – the process begins to get trickier, as you’d expect given the high demand for access to such pristine backcountry. There are 293 backcountry campsites within the park, and all backcountry campers are required to stay in those, and only those. That’s where this guide comes in, as prepping for a stay of any length in the Yellowstone backcountry requires planning months in advance (should you even be lucky enough to land the opportunity through their lottery system).

The Lottery Process (and Pertinent Application Details)

March 1st is the date to remember here, as it’s the day that applications for backcountry access for the May 15th through October 31st window begin to be accepted into the lottery system. Said application/system is operated through Recreation.gov, and has evolved into a much more basic lottery system.

Whereas you used to have to submit an entire planned trip to the backcountry office and simply hope it got approved on dates that fit your schedule, now you just pay the early access lottery fee, submit your basic identification info, and hope you get lucky enough to later reserve what you can. The fee structure consists of a flat $10 early lottery access fee that’s non-refundable, and there’s a $5 per person per night charge that’s included up front that will be refunded should your party’s permit not get selected.

In my previous experience, you’re able to retroactively change the names of the members of your party in the months between landing a permit and actually showing up to begin your trip. So, don’t fret if you don’t have every one of your friends on-board that far in advance.

However, given that all 293 of the backcountry sites within the park have a finite number of spaces they allow to be used, it’s often impossible to add more people to your permitted trip after the fact. For instance, if you land a permit on which you listed (and paid for) just two folks, book your campsites for an epic trip (more on that in the next post), and later find out you’ve got two more buddies who want to join, you may find that the campsites you previously chose have already been booked to capacity. In said scenario, you wouldn’t just be able to get your two late-committing buddies to join you on the way.

So, if you think you’ve got enough commitment to apply for a four-person group, it behooves you to go ahead and put them on the application. It’s infinitely easier to remove anyone who can’t make it after the fact.

You technically have from March 1st through March 20th to get this application information submitted into the lottery system.

On or around March 25th you will find out if you hit the lottery. If you’re unlucky and miss out, you’ll be refunded all but the $10 application fee. It’s important to note that if you miss out on the early access lottery, you haven’t missed out completely on the chance to do some backcountry camping in the park, you merely missed out on the best chance to pre-plan your trip. On April 26th, the general reservation window opens up, and anyone and everyone can book whatever availability is still out there via Recreation.gov in a first come, first served basis – until it’s booked up.

If you do get lucky and hit the lottery, you’ll have one week to further scour your maps, gauge your abilities, do your research, and get your trip plans in order, because beginning on April 1st and ending April 24th, you’ll have a window assigned to you to book your trip in the park. It’s a time-sensitive window, too, so when yours opens you’ll only have 20ish minutes to book exactly what you want, though not all lottery ‘winners’ get the same perks.

Someone who hits the lottery will get the very first booking window on April 1st and the chance to book whatever, whenever they want. Someone who hits it will get the final window on April 24th, and will only have available to them what has not already been booked. So, the later your booking window, the more alternative routes you’ll need to have set and ready to make sure you end up getting the chance to backpack somewhere this summer.

Good luck on your lottery odds this year!

For more on planning your Yellowstone backcountry adventure, check out my guide on building your route based on choosing the best possible campsites.