Trail Description  What's the Trick to Get a Permit?  Mt. Whitney Zone Map  Alternative Routes

The main trail accessing Mt Whitney, the highest point in the contiguous U.S., 14,494(?!) ft, is probably the most heavily used wilderness trail in the country, if not the world. With thousands of visitors each year the human impact on Mt Whitney and the surrounding area presents some unusual problems to the agencies responsible for that part of the John Muir Wilderness. 

An area designated by the U.S. Congress as wilderness is off limits to mechanical or motorized equipment and that creates some serious limitations to wilderness managers who are charged with protecting the area while still providing access to as many visitors as  possible. Human waste alone is a huge problem because the high altitude alpine environment cannot sustain the volume of body waste generated by thousands of visitors each year. Even the simple act of walking on the trail becomes a big issue when multiplied by tens of thousands.  

The Mt.Whitney Trail and other trails accessing the Whitney Zone are under a special series of quota restrictions. The main  Whitney Trail is the only trail on the Inyo National Forest that requires a day hike permit and limits the number of those permits to 150 people per day. Over night Permits are required year round and are subject to a limit of 50 people per day from May 15th to November 1st each year.  

Since the demand for Mt Whitney permits exceeds the availability by about ten times it is notoriously difficult to obtain a permit for the Mt Whitney Trail. Many people are surprised after planning a trip to "climb THE mountain" when they find out that permits for every day in the quota season are gone and have been for months.  

The reason is simply that there are many thousands more people who want to hike the Mt Whitney trail than can possibly fit.  Most of those experienced with the previous system of calling the reservation system for a permit six months to the day in advance realize that because of the incredible demand obtaining a permit for Mt Whitney is very much a matter of luck.  

In the mean time the secret of obtaining a permit for the main Mt Whitney Trail is as follows: Be patient, be persistent and above all be lucky enough to beat the other nine people who are trying to get the same spot on the quota as you are. Also keep in mind that Mt Whitney may be the best known destination in the Sierra Nevada but it is by no means the only or even the best one.  

There are a number of peaks that are only a few feet shy of  the 14496 ft Mt  Whitney and most are lightly visited. If you absolutely must climb Whitney than you may want to consider an alternative route accessing the mountain from the west. The Cottonwood Lakes, Cottonwood Pass, Kearsarge Pass and High Sierra Trails each provide an alternative way to climb Mt Whitney. These other trails involve real back country travel and may be too much for those who are not interested in a wilderness experience but are simply out to climb the tallest thing in lower 48. In that case a 24 hour Day hike permit may be all that is needed.  

The demand on Mt Whitney is not going to go away. For now we all have to deal with the existing limitations of the resource itself and the existing permit situation.