[smokeydon]

I was up to Royal Basin over the weekend and found out that the area is under a reservation permit system from May 1st through Sept 30th, for overnight trips. I always thought all of the Olympics were a self registration at the trailhead system. Does anybody know if this has changed parkwide, or is it just in the more heavily visited areas ? If so, does anybody know what other areas have been affected ?

[McPilchuck]

Royal Lakes Basin is inside the Park, permits for that area are now required, especially for overnight extended use due to high volumes of traffic, so says a close friend of mine. Inside Olympic Wilderness areas: no permit is required unless you are entering the Park from those points. Permits as I understand are no longer free issured at Trailheads as in the past and are suposed to be obtained from ONP offices.

[Steve]

Here's the ONP web site that gives the restrictions for reservations in the backcountry. As you will see the most popular trails are the ones you need to get in advance. Most you may call up to a month before you go and have them hold one for you. http://www.nps.gov/olym/wic/permits.htm

[Rich Baldwin]

I'm hiking the coast from Lake Ozette to Oil City later this month. We only needed reservations for the first night in the Ozette area.