Are you planning a leisurely hike around Todd Lake this summer—or hoping to view the icy waters of No Name Lake on Broken Top? Is backpacking the Green Lakes Trail or summiting South Sister on your summertime bucket list?
If so, you’ll want to know all about the Central Cascades Wilderness Permit System, first introduced in 2021 and refined in the years since. The permit program was first introduced to protect sensitive habitats and stop overuse in three wilderness areas across the Deschutes and Willamette national forests—the Three Sisters Wilderness, the Mt. Jefferson Wilderness, and the Mt. Washington Wilderness.
Today, the system caps the number of day-use and overnight visitors to some of the region’s most popular trails—including Green Lakes and Soda Creek, Broken Top, South Sister, and the Tam MacArthur Rim trails—between June 15 and October 15.
If you’re wondering how this Central Cascades Wilderness Permit System might impact your summer plans, here’s a quick guide to everything you need to know—along with how to secure your own permits as the spring and summer seasons unfold.
Which Trails are Part of the Central Cascades Wilderness Permit System?
Trails throughout the Mt. Jefferson, Mt. Washington, and Three Sisters wilderness areas of the Deschutes and Willamette National Forests are restricted to permit-holders between June 15 and October 15. In all, 19 trails require day-use permits, overnight stays on all 79 trails will require permits.
Some of Central Oregon’s most popular trails are restricted—including Devils Lake, South Sister, Scott Trail, the Obsidian Trail, Green Lakes and Soda Creek, Broken Top, Black Crater, and Tam MacArthur Rim. The U.S. Forest Service has produced an FAQ (PDF) that explains the program, as well as a document that lists all impacted trails and how many permits are available each day on impacted trails.
How Many Day-use and Overnight Permits Will Be Issued Per Day?
Day-use permits are issued on a per-person basis—so the Broken Top Trail, with 45 day-use permits available on any given day, is limited to exactly 45 hikers per day. Different trails will have different capacities; 16 day-use permits will be available each day for the Scott Trail, for instance, while the South Sister Climber Trail will be capped at 120 hikers per day.
Overnight permits are a different story; one to seven overnight permits will be available for all of the 79 impacted trails on any given day. That said, one overnight permit covers a group of up to 12 hikers and backpackers.
When Will Day-use and Overnight Permits Be Made Available?
Availability varies between day-use and overnight permits. Here’s a quick breakdown:
Overnight permits: Forty percent of all overnight permits are made available at 7 a.m. on the first Tuesday in April; check with the official Central Cascades Wilderness Permit System webpage for the exact date. In June, the remaining 60% of overnight permits are released on a seven-day rolling window—two weeks before each date. So if you’d like to hike up to Todd Lake on July 14 and pitch a tent in one of the designated sites, your first chase to snag a permit arrives in early April; if all available permits for July 14 are claimed before you can procure one, your next chance to grab a permit will be at 7 a.m. June 30.
Day-use permits: Unlike overnight permits, day-use permits are not available in early April. Rather, all day-use permits are made available on a rolling basis; 40% of all permits for a specific trail are released 10 days in advance of each date, and the remaining 60% are released two days beforehand. So if you want to grab a day-use permit for Todd Lake on July 14, your first chance to secure a permit will be at 7 a.m. July 4; if all available permits for that night are claimed before you can procure one, your next chance to grab a permit will be at 7 a.m. July 12.
In both cases, the rolling window allows for more spontaneous travel and is meant to cut down on no-shows, giving hikers more choice for planning around weather events, wildfires, and other factors.
How Much Do Day-use and Overnight Permits Cost?
Day-use permits cost $1 each, and overnight permits run $6 apiece—though the overnight permit is good for a group of up to 12.
How Can You Secure Permits?
All permits must be purchased through Recreation.gov or by calling (877) 444-6777. The following links offer different options for purchasing permits, depending on which permit you’d like:
Note that Central Cascades Wilderness Permits are not available at trailheads; they must be purchased in advance.
What Happens If You Can’t Secure a Permit?
If you can’t secure a permit, don’t hike your desired trail without one; Forest Service rangers will monitor trail usage this spring and summer, and they may choose to issue citations that run $200 or more.
If you can’t secure a permit, consider finding an alternate trail. Here are a few suggestions (note that other types of recreation passes may be required):
West Metolius River Trail: A footpath hugs the banks of the West Metolius River, passing springtime wildflowers and cutting through ponderosa pine forests before arriving at the Wizard Falls Hatchery.
LaPine State Park: Several miles of trails crisscross the popular LaPine State Park (just outside La Pine), with paths passing through forests of pine, hugging the Deschutes River, and offering views of surrounding Cascade peaks.
Whychus Creek Scenic Overlook: An easy, wheelchair-accessible trail arrives at an overlook that affords views of the Three Sisters, as well as the Whychus Creek Wild and Scenic River area. A longer trail can turn the hike into a loop that affords additional mountain viewpoints.
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Todd Lake
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Elk Lake Campground
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