🎟️permit lotteries that are actually worth entering

Sources, not individual permit windows, those go stale. Half of this is real odds, half is a raffle dressed up as a lottery.

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Half Dome daily (2-day-out) lottery

Two days before your date, noon-4pm Pacific, for about half the day's cables permits. Better odds if your dates are flexible.

About 4% get through, and winning still doesn't guarantee a permit. start early on results day, it fills within the hour.

Core Zone odds sit around 2%. Apply for Colchuck or Snow zone too if you just want the basin, not summit bragging rights.

Doesn't matter when in February you apply, odds are identical all month. Tue-Thu dates beat weekends by a wide margin.

PCT long-distance permit

Grand Canyon backcountry permit (corridor campgrounds)

Not a lottery for most zones, but the popular Bright Angel windows fill within minutes of release. Set an alarm, not a reminder.

Or start a list of your own. Free, it takes a minute.

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