Why do you need a permit to hike the PCT?
Each year, thousands–and it’s growing considerably year over year–of would-be hikers set their site on the Pacific Crest Trail(PCT). In 2020, I am one of those people. One of the first actionable steps in your plan to hike the PCT is to snag a permit. In this article, I’ll explain my opinion of the permitting system and guide you through my experience of the process.
PCTA’s Long-Distance Permit
In order to accommodate the thousands of hikers doing their thing through the fragile ecosystems the trail wanders, the Pacific Crest Trail Association (PCTA) has established a permitting system. The system is designed to better manage the number of people on distinct sections of the trail at the same time. The overall goal of this permitting system is to help spread the “herd” over time as to not cause a giant bubble of hikers vying for the same small space to sleep, drink, and poop.
All in all, I like the system. Without some centralized authority to keep track of it all, I could easily envision hundreds of people all wanting to start the trail on April 15th. Then, later that evening, trying to figure out how to fit three hundred tents in an area that can reasonably accommodate 50.
The vast majority–over 90%–of those who set out to through-hike the entirety of the trail, choose to do it from the Southern terminus in Mexico and push North towards Canada. These folks are called Northbounders or NOBO’s. Until 2020, these hikers were the ones that most needed to be managed in order to avoid overcrowding. In 2020, the PCTA adjusted the system to help disperse the group of Southbounders as well. I did not go through the permitting system for a SOBO permit, so I can’t speak to that process; however, I will explain how I went through the system to apply for my 2020 Northbound Long-distance permit through the PCTA.
When to apply
This will most likely change in the future, so please use this only as a reference for what I did. You should rely on the up-to-date information from the PCTA themselves, it’s very helpful!
For me, the earliest I could apply for my 2020 Long-Distance permit was on October 29th, 2019. I knew, from reading articles, watching Youtubes, and seeing chatter in the Class of 2020 PCT Facebook group, that it was going to be a bit of chore to apply for the permit, so I decided that I best be prepared for permit application day.
The PCTA releases 35 permits per day on this first application date. Example, when the application window opens, the system will allow 35 people to apply for April 20th, once that number is reached, they will not allow anyone else to apply for that date. However, they do open another 15 permits per day on the second application date. For the 2020 hiking season, the second application date is January 14th, 2020. If you’re doing the math, that means the PCTA will grant up to 50 people per day to start from the same location at the same time. Let the conga line commence!
I was hoping to start my hike on March 26th from the Southern Terminus(near Campo, CA). I knew this was a little earlier than most folks start the trail. Because of that, I was hoping it would be less likely to be snatched up and I would have a reasonable shot at getting either that date or one very close to it. I scheduled myself to be in front of a computer on October 29th to hopefully snag one of the first 35 spots for March 26th.
The process for application
First, you apply for the long-distance permits through the PCTA’s website. It’s quite intuitive and they do a great job of explaining the process, so I won’t go into much detail here. I knew that the method was going to involve going to their website on application day, getting in a queue, then waiting it out until it was my turn to be able to select my desired start date and submit my application.
The website’s permit page is closed up until midnight (Pacific Time) of the application date. Going there before midnight serves no purpose other than to read up on what you’ll need to do. At midnight, the permit application changes to a new landing page with a simple notification of when the application process will start–for 10/29/2019 it was at 10:30 a.m. Pacific time–and also displays a nifty little countdown timer. According to the site, anyone who goes to that page prior to 10:30 am, will get a random place in line. Anyone who visits the site after the 10:30 am start time will be placed at the back of the line.
I knew that I wanted to get there before 10:30 and get my random place in line. I figured that I would up my odds of getting a good place in line by opening the page on three different devices: two laptops and my smartphone. I was not the only one to do this. At 10:30 the page changed and on all three of my screens I was given my places in line. I was 2,843rd, 4,500th, and 6,500th respectively. Yikes!
I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but definitely not that many people. After a brief moment of being bummed, I realized that there are probably countless others who, like me, were on multiple devices and therefore had multiple places in line. After 30 minutes or so, five hundred places had freed up in front of me. Presumably, from having completed an application or by leaving the line on the other devices that weren’t their best place.
I also “left the line” on the two devices that were in the 4 and 6 thousands place. The site provides an easy link at the bottom of the waiting-room page to allow you to do this. Also, I found another point of relief in that I was getting live play-by-play in the discussion happening on the Pacific Crest Trail Class of 2020 Facebook group. Folks were sharing their screenshots of which days still had availability as well as what to expect.
At this point, hundreds of spaces had moved through the line ahead of me and there were still a lot of openings in March and April–only 3 people had chosen my specific date; sweet, 32 were still left!
I counted my blessings and felt a bit of a relief, I think I’ll actually get my application! There’s even a chance I’ll get the date I wanted. I then got back to work knowing that at the current pace of 500 per half-hour, I still had some waiting to do.
Around the one-hour mark(11:30 am Pacific), it seemed to speed up quite a bit and by 12:04 Pacific time I was only minutes away from the application page. Woohoo!!!
My experience submitting my 2020 PCT application
Once you reach the front of the waiting-room line, you’re redirected to the actual application page. From there, it’s pretty straight forward. You “only” have 20 minutes to fill out and submit your application, but it should just take about five.
For the application:
- Choose your starting and ending points–for me it was Southern Terminus to start & Northern Terminus as my end
- Select your starting date–I chose March 26th, which still had 20+ spots available
- Fill out your personal details: name, birthdate, address, email, and phone
- You can also add up to 2 minors per adult application
Even though it’s still a long-shot that Lilah(my 9-year old) will do 500+ miles with me next year, I added her to my permit anyway. I can always modify and drop her from the permit in the future. - Lastly, you agree that you’ve read over the basic rules of the Pacific Crest Trail, Wilderness, and Leave No Trace. These are all things in which I’m intimately familiar.
After a few minutes, I received an email confirmation from the PCTA that they have received my application. They then state that they will be reviewing applications for the next several weeks. The PCTA makes it abundantly clear that this isn’t an official permit, yet. Once I have been approved and provided my permit, they then suggest making travel arrangements, not before. I’m not sure what could possibly cause them to not approve my permit, but until then, I’m still under the impression that this is a strong maybe.
What if I weren't able to get a permit, then what?
Besides a lot of excitement and celebration going on in the Class of 2020 discussion, there were a considerable amount of people who were anxious, disappointed, or downright pissed about the process and/or their specific circumstance. While I can only speculate as to how I think I would feel if I wasn’t able to get my application, I would try to find the gratitude in the situation. While it’s easier said than done and doesn’t always work perfectly, finding gratitude in all situations has been a critical element for my emotional growth over the years.
If I try to put myself in the position of someone who didn’t get a permit I would focus on what my other options are:
- The January 14th application date is two months away and typically sees a fraction of the applicants that the October one does. That is when the additional 15 spots per day will be opened up for NOBO’s that start at or near the Mexico border. This is also when the applications are accepted for the SOBO’s that are starting at or near the Canadian border.
- Either of those sound like great options to me
- You don’t have to have the Long-Distance permit to do the PCT. It’s super helpful to get because when you have it you don’t have to work with any other agencies(National Parks, National Forest, etc.) when traveling through those areas that require permitting. That said, you can work with those agencies that require permits directly and go through that process–perhaps you’ll have better luck with them.
- There are other amazing trails out there. Arizona Trail, Long Trail, Appalachian Trail, Colorado Trail, and the Continental Divide Trail to name a few. I’ve read great things about each of those and having any of those as a backup plan is still a WIN in my books
Final thoughts
I’m excited. If you lived in our house right now you would know this and you would be ready for me to shut the bleep up about the Pacific Crest Trail. You’d be ready for more to quit pulling out the 48″ x 24″ map of the PCT at every meal and talk about all the cool places on the trail. You’d be ready to quit watching the 50th video on YouTube about quilts.
But you’re not.
My hope is that you’ll find your Pacific Crest Trail. You’ll find that thing that lights you up like no other. You’ll find that challenge that will test you in all sorts of amazing ways. My hope is that you will be that annoying person who is constantly talking about your dream to anyone who is unlucky enough to cross your path.
What's Next?
- Continue to refine my gear list
- Continue planning my food resupply strategy--I'm about halfway there
- Take more small trips to test out my gear and systems
- Book my flight to CA once I've been given my official permit