Permit Booking Systems We Cover, by State
Permits are not sold in one place. Federal land books through Recreation.gov, California State Parks moved to ReserveCalifornia, Utah runs on Reserve America, and Havasupai never joined a platform at all. Here is every system we track permits on, and which states each one reaches.
As of August 2026, PermitSnag tracks 654 US wilderness permits across 5 booking systems: Recreation.gov, ReserveCalifornia, Utah State Parks on Reserve America, HavasupaiReservations.com, and a set of agency-run portals. Every system listed here has permits you can put a watch on today.
The systems, one by one
Recreation.gov
Federalrecreation.govThe single federal booking system. Almost every wilderness permit, river launch and lottery on federal land is sold here, along with the federal campground network. It is where most of the openings we catch come from.
- Who issues the permits
- National Park Service, Forest Service, BLM, Army Corps, Bureau of Reclamation
- Where it reaches
- Federal land nationwide. The state list further down is built from the permits we are actually tracking right now, not from a list typed by hand.
Permits we watch on Recreation.gov
- Half Dome cables permit availability
- Enchantments Core Zone permit availability
- Middle Fork Salmon launch dates
- Wonderland Trail camp availability
Wiring last verified 2026-08-09.
ReserveCalifornia
UseDirectreservecalifornia.comCalifornia State Parks moved to the UseDirect platform, so bookings run through ReserveCalifornia rather than Recreation.gov. Environmental camps, trail camps and the coastal cabins that book out in minutes all live here.
- Who issues the permits
- California State Parks
- Where it reaches
- California
Permits we watch on ReserveCalifornia
- Steep Ravine Cabins availability
- Lower Moro Campground availability
- Castle Rock Trail Camp availability
Wiring last verified 2026-08-09.
Utah State Parks (Reserve America)
Reserve Americautahstateparks.reserveamerica.comUtah's state parks book through Reserve America, a separate system from the federal one that covers Zion, Bryce and the rest of Utah's national parks. Availability is tracked at the park level, which is the level Reserve America publishes it at.
- Who issues the permits
- Utah Division of State Parks
- Where it reaches
- Utah
Permits we watch on Utah State Parks (Reserve America)
Wiring last verified 2026-08-09.
HavasupaiReservations.com
Direct (tribal)havasupaireservations.comHavasupai is not on Recreation.gov and never has been. The Tribe runs its own booking site, and since 2026 there is no lottery and no transfer board — cancellations go straight back onto the public calendar, which is exactly the kind of opening worth watching for.
- Who issues the permits
- Havasupai Tribe
- Where it reaches
- Arizona
Permits we watch on HavasupaiReservations.com
Wiring last verified 2026-08-09.
Agency and concessionaire portals
Directvisitcatalinaisland.com and lecontelodge.comA handful of places run their own booking desk instead of joining a platform. We link straight to the real one so you are not sent to Recreation.gov for a permit Recreation.gov does not sell.
- Who issues the permits
- Catalina Island Conservancy, Great Smoky Mountains concessionaires
- Where it reaches
- California, Tennessee, North Carolina
Permits we watch on Agency and concessionaire portals
Wiring last verified 2026-08-09.
Do you cover my state?
These counts come straight from the permits we are tracking right now, whichever system issues them. If your state is here, there is something to watch in it.
- California backpacking permits313
- Utah backpacking permits134
- Minnesota backpacking permits65
- Oregon backpacking permits31
- Washington backpacking permits27
- Arizona backpacking permits17
- Colorado backpacking permits16
- Wyoming backpacking permits15
- Wisconsin backpacking permits11
- Montana backpacking permits7
- Alaska backpacking permits6
- Tennessee backpacking permits4
- Texas backpacking permits4
- Idaho backpacking permits3
- Virginia backpacking permits2
What we do not cover, and why we say so
California and Utah are the only state-park reservation systems we watch. Every other state's state parks are not covered, and neither is anything in Canada. A booking system we can technically reach is not the same as one we watch, and only the second kind is listed above.
One system we have deliberately decided not to poll is Colorado State Parks: its booking platform disallows automated checking in its own robots.txt, and we are not going to ignore that to sell you an alert.
The reason this list exists at all: the fastest way to waste someone's season is to let them set up a watch on a permit nothing is actually checking.
Questions about permit coverage
Which permit booking systems does PermitSnag cover?
Recreation.gov (the federal system used by the Park Service, Forest Service, BLM, Army Corps and Bureau of Reclamation), ReserveCalifornia for California State Parks, Reserve America for Utah State Parks, HavasupaiReservations.com for the Havasupai Tribe, and a small set of agency-run portals such as the Catalina Island Conservancy. Every system on this page has permits you can watch today.
Do you cover my state's state-park reservation system?
Only California and Utah so far. Those two are where the permits people miss out on actually live, so they were built first. If your state books through a system that is not on this page, we do not track it yet and this page will say so rather than implying otherwise.
Do you cover permits in Canada?
No. PermitSnag is US-only. Canadian national and provincial park systems are outside what we watch, and we would rather say that plainly than list them and let you find out after you have set up a watch that will never fire.
What happens if a park moves to a different booking system?
It happens more than you would think. California State Parks moved onto the UseDirect platform, which is why its trail camps book through ReserveCalifornia and not Recreation.gov. Every system on this page carries the date we last verified it end to end, and a permit we cannot actually check is not listed as covered.