Note. This is borrowed with permission from Stagecoach, a CDT hiker.
Yellowstone NP Permits. Last year I got off the trail when I broke my leg. This year I’m trying to finish the remaining 1,000 miles from Yellowstone NP going southbound to Monarch Pass starting the second week of July. Because I knew my starting date, I was able to get a 1 person permit by calling up early. Here is what I learned:
- The Yellowstone NP backcountry office will let you call in for permits at 307-344-2160. Call a week or two out once you know your hard dates. Park Ranger Howard (first name) really helped me.
- Tell them you are hiking southbound or northbound on the CDT. They will try to help you (especially if you are a little humble and check any thru hiker attitude).
- Tell them you don’t mind sharing a campsite with other hikers or live stock travelers. Also say that you don’t mind rustic sites or doubling up. It may help.
- The following is a link to the campsite map. It is hard to navigate on a phone because of the size. https://www.nps.gov/maps/full.html?mapId=f926f448-9fe4-4600-b4c0-3f060737c87f
- The sites I have (traveling Southbound) are OE1 Summit Lake, OA2 Upper Firehole River, 8M1 Moose Creek, 8H6 Rustic, 8C9 Crooked Creek. Reverse for Northbound.
- I was able to get sites on the trail approximately 15 miles apart. If you want to go bigger miles just tell them, but I didn’t want to push big miles through Yellowstone.
- West Yellowstone, Wyoming, is a good hiker town (expensive hotels during peak) but it has all of the amenities.
Stagecoach