SEKI Wilderness Permit — Lodgepole — Alta (limited HST access)

Lodgepole, Alta (limited HST access): what makes it different

Alta is the Wolverton entry that climbs the Alta Peak Trail to Panther Gap, Mehrten Meadow and Alta Meadow, the one Lodgepole-area start where 20 of the 25 daily spots can be reserved. The permit stops short of the High Sierra Trail between Sevenmile Hill and Kaweah Gap.^1,2

Getting to the start

You park at Wolverton, at the end of Wolverton Road, and collect the permit at the Lodgepole Visitor Center, which keeps quota-season desk hours of 7:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The Wolverton lot has toilets and a shuttle stop. The Park Service notes that black bears are often seen feeding in Wolverton Meadow in late spring and early summer.^1,5,3

A 2001 day hiker puts the trailhead at 7,400 feet.⁶

The first leg

Recreation.gov puts the first allowed camp at Panther Gap, 3 miles from Wolverton, with no water there. The Park Service trail list agrees on 3 miles. The Wolverton trailhead page says 4 miles, and a 2012 route list logs 2.7 miles. The pages do not explain the gap, so use the permit's 3 miles as the planning number and check your map.^1,2,3,7

The 2001 hiker says the Alta Peak and Pear Lake trails split about two miles from Wolverton, and that Panther Gap, at 8,400 feet, gives the first views of Kaweah Canyon and the Great Western Divide.⁶

Terrain and difficulty

The Park Service calls it a steady climb through forests and meadows to Alta Peak. Its Wolverton page gives the trail as 12.8 miles one way to the summit with more than 4,000 feet of gain.^2,3

The 2012 route list puts Mehrten Meadow at 3.3 miles, the Sevenmile Trail junction at 3.6, the Alta Peak junction at 4.7 and Alta Meadow at 5.6 miles. These are one hiker's counts, so match them against your own map.⁷

Summit height differs by source: 11,291 feet on the booking page, 11,240 in a 2001 report and 11,200 in a 2012 write-up. This matters only if you quote the number.^1,6,7

Quota at this entry point

• 2026 daily quota at Lodgepole, Alta (limited HST access), overnight: 25 people a day. Recreation.gov lists 25 people a day for Alta, 20 of them reservable. The live daily calendar is closed outside the quota season, so this is the division text, not a daily count.¹

Rules specific to this entry point

This permit does not allow travel on the High Sierra Trail between the Sevenmile Hill Trail and Kaweah Gap. The Park Service repeats it and says that stretch needs its own High Sierra Trail permit.^1,2

No camping at Pear or Emerald Lake on the first night, and no overnight stock use. Campfires are not allowed above 9,000 feet in the Kaweah River drainage, but Recreation.gov says they are allowed at Panther Gap and Mehrten Meadow.¹

Where it leads

The trail dead-ends at Alta Meadow and Alta Peak. Recreation.gov names those two. A 2012 writer describes Alta Meadow as a large, flat camp with big views and a drop to a deep canyon, with nobody else there.^1,7

From Alta Meadow a cross-country route runs east to Moose Lake. A June 2014 pair did it with a planned loop turned into an out-and-back, and said the old trail near the lake is faint but fairly well ducked.⁸

What trip reports say

A 2012 overnight found Panther Gap open, sandy and dry, and not worth camping at without water. Mehrten Meadow was treed, with two streams and mild mosquitoes, but the trail curves around it so it feels public. Alta Meadow had a decent stream and the writer had the place to themselves.⁷

A June 14 to 15, 2014 trip filled water from a stream in Alta Meadow, then logged about 3,900 feet up on day one from Wolverton to Moose Lake. The writer picked up the permit at Lodgepole and suggests reserving ahead or trying for a walk-up.⁸

A 2001 October day hike on the same trail reached the summit in three hours from an 11 a.m. start and was back by about 5 p.m. The writer suggests seven hours or more for a round trip.⁶

When to go from here

Water is the seasonal question. The Park Service conditions page, updated September 24, 2026, said the creek below Panther Gap and the Alta Meadow creek were dry, Mehrten Meadow creek was dry with water upstream, and a spring on the trail was flowing. A 2012 report found the meadows watered.^4,7

Afternoon squalls came through by mid afternoon on the 2012 trip, so plan to be set up at camp early.⁷

Compare with nearby entry points

• Pear & Emerald: Pear and Emerald share the first two miles from Wolverton but cannot be reserved at all, and only 15 people fit at either lake. Alta is the reservable choice, 20 of 25.^1,6
• Pear & Emerald PT: Pass Through also starts at Wolverton, but 25 people a day with none reservable, and its camping needs cross-country travel past Pear Lake. Alta's camps are on trail.¹
• Twin Lakes: Twin Lakes leaves from Lodgepole or Wuksachi, not Wolverton, with a 30-person quota and a first camp at Cahoon Meadow 3 miles out. It heads for Silliman Pass instead of Alta Meadow.¹

Sources

1. Sequoia and Kings Canyon Wilderness Permit, Alta division, Recreation.gov. Read 2026-10-15.
2. Wilderness Trail Descriptions, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, National Park Service. Read 2026-10-15.
3. Wolverton Picnic Area, Trailhead, and Snowplay Area, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, National Park Service. Read 2026-10-15.
4. Trail Conditions, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, National Park Service. Read 2026-10-15.
5. Wilderness Permits & Reservations, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, National Park Service. Read 2026-10-15.
6. Alta Peak, Stanford Exploration Project (Morgan Brown). Read 2026-10-15.
7. Reaching new highs on Alta Peak, Inga's Adventures. Read 2026-10-15.
8. Moose Lake via Alta Meadow in Sequoia National Park, Plutonic Love. Read 2026-10-15.
9. Minimum Impact Restrictions, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, National Park Service. Read 2026-10-15.

Safety & planning

Alternatives to an Alta permit