How far ahead do Santa Cruz Mountains trail camps open bookings?

The four backcountry trail camps in the Santa Cruz Mountains state parks system, Butano, Castle Rock, Waterman Gap and Slate Creek, do not use ReserveCalifornia. Instead, California State Parks' own page states reservations can be made 60 days in advance by submitting a request online through the Backcountry Trail Camp Request Form (Source: https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=26658).

Sending the form is not a reservation. Staff process requests Monday through Friday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., and an approved request is held only until 5 p.m. the following business day pending payment, taken by phone at (831) 338-8867, after which the permit is emailed (Source: https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=26658).

Fees are $15 per site per night, with a maximum of six people per site and up to two sites per reservation, plus an $8 non-refundable reservation fee. Groups of 13 or more pay a flat $25 non-refundable fee regardless of site count and may only book Sunday through Thursday (Source: https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=26658).

Because the window is only 60 days rather than the many months used elsewhere in the state system, timing a request for the exact day it opens matters more than at parks with longer horizons.

Summer is the hardest season to get a request approved in this system, since dry, warm weather with coastal fog draws the heaviest demand of the year against a small number of sites, while winter, the rainy season, offers the best availability.

All trail camps in nearby Big Basin Redwoods State Park remain closed due to extensive fire damage from the CZU August Lightning Complex fires, which concentrates Bay Area backcountry camping demand onto the four camps still open (Source: https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=26658).