Desolation Wilderness overnight permits
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- Facts checked against agency pages on
Desolation Wilderness lies west of Lake Tahoe in California. A permit is required for every visit, day or overnight, in every month. During the summer quota season, overnight entry is limited by destination zone.
The fees and dates here were read off the Recreation.gov permit page on the day shown above. The page gives no season year. Confirm fees and dates there before booking for 2027.
How the zone quota works
There is no single Desolation quota. There are 45 of them, one per destination zone, and each caps how many people may spend their first night there.
- First night: you camp in the zone printed on the permit.
- Later nights: you may camp in other zones, provided you exit by the permit's last date.
- Outside quota season: no per-zone limit applies, though the group-size limit still does.
The zone to reserve is the one where you will sleep on night one. It is not the trailhead, and it is not the place you most want to see.
Fees
| Item | Amount, as posted |
|---|---|
| Reservation fee | $6 per overnight permit. Never refunded |
| Adults (over 12), first night | $5 per person |
| Adults, trips of 2 to 14 nights | $10, as worded on the permit page. Confirm the total at checkout |
| Children 12 and under | Free |
| Cap | $100 in recreation fees per permit |
| Change fee | $5 to change party size, number of days or first-night zone |
Where returned permits go
A cancelled reservation frees first-night quota in its zone. The Forest Service does not publish a time when that space reappears on the zone calendar, and it promises no release.
It does publish the refund rule:
| Cancel | Refund |
|---|---|
| 8 or more days before entry | All recreation fees. The $6 reservation fee is kept |
| 7 days or fewer before entry | None |
Changing the entry date is not offered as an edit. The holder has to cancel and book a new permit, paying a new $6 fee. Every moved trip therefore gives up its original date.
Taken together: holders who know early have a reason to cancel at least 8 days out. That is an inference from the fee rule, not an agency statement. It makes the two weeks before a summer weekend the most useful time to be watching that weekend's zone.
Booking opens six months before entry, so a popular zone can fill that far out. Once a date is full, returned space is the only supply.
Catching one
- Plan the route and find the zone for night one.
- Count the party. A zone with a small quota can be full with one group.
- Try to book at six months out.
- If the zone is full, set an alert on that zone and your entry dates.
- When a message arrives, check on Recreation.gov that the opening fits your whole party before paying.
OpenCampsite's Desolation guide has a ready-made watch for zone 33, Aloha. The alert reports space it saw on the zone calendar. It does not reserve the permit, hold it or guarantee it will still be available.
Rules that cost people their permit
- A reservation confirmation is not a permit. The permit must be printed and signed, and the group leader carries it.
- During quota season, printing opens seven days before entry.
- Once the permit can be printed, it can no longer be changed.
In the wilderness
- All food and scented items go in a hard-sided, bear-resistant canister. This is a requirement, not advice.
- Campfires are prohibited. Stoves are allowed.
- Camp at least 100 feet from lakeshores, streams and trails.
- Eagle Lake, Grouse and Hemlock Lakes, and the north and east sides of Lake of the Woods have designated sites, one permitted group to a site.
- Overnight permit holders are exempt from day-use parking fees at certain trailheads and must display a parking pass.
Watch the Lake Aloha zone at OpenCampsite
Asked at the desk
- Do I have to camp in my permit zone every night?
- Only the first night, and only during quota season. After that you may move to other zones as long as you leave by the last date on the permit.
- Is there a lottery for Desolation Wilderness?
- No lottery is described on the Recreation.gov permit page. Overnight permits are reserved directly, up to six months before the entry date.
- Do day hikers need a permit in Desolation?
- Yes. A permit is required for day visits all year. Day-use permits are free and come from a Forest Service office or, in summer, from trailheads.
Agency sources
- Recreation.gov: Desolation Wilderness Permit recreation.gov