News release

The Mt. Whitney Lottery, the process which awards both day and overnight hiking permits of the tallest mountain in the contiguous United States, has been rescheduled to start on February 22, 2019.

wx whit1

Mt. Whitney Trail meadow & sunrise at trail camp

Typically, the lottery begins February 1 through www.recreation.gov, but was delayed this year. The lottery will open February 22 at 7:00 am and close on March 15th at 9:00 pm Pacific Time.

Applicants are reminded that:

  • Being first to apply does not improve your chances of success; applications will be processed in random order after March 15th.
  • You can list up to 15 different trip dates on the lottery application.
  • Submit only one application. Groups that submit multiple applications will be rejected from the lottery.

Lottery results will be posted on March 24th. If you are unsuccessful in winning your date from the lottery you can try again on May 1st when the unclaimed dates will be made available for web reservations.

The Whitney lottery addresses the overwhelming demand to complete a hike to this popular destination that draws mountaineers and hikers from throughout the world. Mt. Whitney is the southern terminus of the John Muir Trail and a part of several popular loop hikes in the Sierra Nevada.

For more information about the Mt. Whitney Lottery, please visit https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/inyo/passes-permits/recreation/?cid=stelprdb5150055.

Discover more from Sierra Wave: Eastern Sierra News

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading