How current is Bearpath’s availability?

Where it comes from

Bearpath shows the wilderness permit availability that Recreation.gov publishes for the Olympic National Park Wilderness Permit.

National Park Service data provides camp and trail geography, and USDA Forest Service data provides the approach trails outside the park; neither is a source of availability.

Bearpath does not reserve campsites, hold inventory, sell permits, or guarantee that availability will still be there when you book.

How old it is

Bearpath checks Recreation.gov’s published permit availability daily.

The planner shows when each month was last checked, and shows a warning when that check is more than 48 hours old.

Availability can change at any time after a check, including through new reservations and cancellations. What Recreation.gov shows when you reserve is what counts.

Which dates it covers

Bearpath shows a season’s dates as Available or Full after it has seen that season’s permits published on Recreation.gov.

Recreation.gov has two reservation seasons: summer, May 15 to October 15, and winter, October 16 to May 14.

As of this page’s review date, Recreation.gov lists April 15, 2026 as the summer season’s release date and September 15, 2026 as the winter season’s.

Some camps open later in the summer season; Recreation.gov lists their dates.

What each status means

Available means Bearpath has affirmative published information supporting availability for that date.

Full means Recreation.gov has published a usable group quota with no remaining group quota.

Unknown means Bearpath does not have enough reliable published information to call the date Available or Full. Unknown does not mean Full.

Not enough people quota means the campsite is still published as Available, but the published people quota is smaller than your selected party. A smaller party may still fit. The same dot marks a designated group site when your selected party is smaller than the site’s published minimum party. The site is still published as Available, and a larger party may still book it.

Walk-up / In Station and WIC only indicate different permit channels rather than ordinary online availability. Both go through a Wilderness Information Center.

No sites within Olympic National Park are held as same-day walk-ups, and permits cannot be self-registered at trailheads.

What Bearpath cannot see

14 of the 173 campsites Bearpath lists are booked only through the Wilderness Information Center. Bearpath shows them as WIC only and shows no online availability for them.

Bearpath does not show how many people are on a trail or at a camp. It shows the quota Recreation.gov has published as remaining.

Bearpath does not send alerts or notifications about cancellations.

Dates and time zones

Bearpath uses the park’s date, in Pacific time, wherever you are. “Today” in the planner is today at Olympic National Park.