When planning your trip, please keep the following in mind:
Permits are required year-round for any overnight stay in the backcountry. Visit the park's Wilderness Camping and Winter Wilderness Camping pages for more information.
Plan your trip carefully. Consider how many miles you want to hike each day, how much elevation gain you are willing to undertake, and the totality of the experience and skill of all of the members of your group. Plan to use the Wilderness Campground Map, the Glacier National Park website, and other trip planning resources such as guidebooks and maps.
Pick up reserved permits in person by 4:30 p.m. the day before or on the start date of the trip, or the reservation will be cancelled.
Because camping off itinerary can affect camping opportunities for others and damage natural resources, your itinerary must be achievable. For this reason, Recreation.gov allows a maximum daily mileage between camps of 16 miles. You may book itineraries with longer daily mileage in person at a Wilderness Permit office (subject to first-come, first-served walk-in availability).
Camping is only permitted in the camp area designated on your permit itinerary, on the date indicated. Reserving campgrounds with the intent of not using a portion of the itinerary is prohibited and will lead to your permit being revoked. Camping off permit or outside of designated sites is subject to law enforcement action.
Stay up to date with Current Park Conditions. It is possible to book reservations for areas that include life-threatening hazards and that require specialized equipment and experience and there is no guarantee that your route will be passable when you arrive. Glacier National Park is a dynamic resource where natural events and conditions are unpredictable. There is a possibility that trail and campground closures, campground environmental conditions, natural events (such as fires, aggressive animals, etc.), or management actions may render a particular itinerary impossible. In the event that this occurs, we will attempt to provide you with an alternate itinerary. However, refunds are not available for campground closures.
In designated camps, all food, garbage, and scented items must be hung from the provided food poles, and/or placed in, the provided bear boxes. Durable bags, and at least a 25' rope, or paracord are necessary to hang with, and are not provided. Animal-resistant food storage canisters/bags are not required in campgrounds in summer status. However, visitors utilizing campgrounds that are still in winter status are required to provide, and use, their own IGBC certified bear resistant storage container for all food and scented items.
Visitors are limited to 14 days in the backcountry per permit and per calendar year. Overlapping reservations for the same permit holder are not allowed.
Wilderness campgrounds have a variable number of tent sites. Each permit allows up to 4 people to camp in a single site. Hammocks are strongly discouraged.
Stock is allowed only in specific camp areas and trails. Grazing is prohibited. Certified noxious weed seed free feed must be packed in. Stock must be kept at the hitch rail only. Learn on the park's Private Stock Use page.
Wood fires are permitted in a few select wilderness campgrounds and prohibited in all other areas of the backcountry. Never leave a fire unattended and be sure the fire is completely extinguished.
There is no guarantee of your safety. Risks of wilderness travel include serious injury and death.
Leave No Trace
Please follow all principles of Leave No Trace including plan ahead and prepare, travel and camp on durable surfaces, dispose of waste properly, leave what you find, minimize campfire impacts, respect wildlife, and be considerate of other visitors.
Camp Observer
