[RodF]

New Reservation System for Olympic National Park Wilderness Camping; Updated Program Begins April 1 Reservation requests for wilderness camping areas with overnight use limits will be accepted by fax or postal mail beginning Monday, April 1, 2013. Phone reservations are no longer accepted. Overnight use limits for high-use wilderness camp areas are in effect between May 1 and September 30 to help minimize human impacts and provide a quality wilderness experience. Reservations are recommended. Reservations for camp areas without overnight use limits are not required and are not accepted. Permits for these areas are not limited and may be picked up at a permit office just before a hike. Wilderness camping permits are required for all overnight stays in Olympic National Park backcountry areas. Permit fees are $5 to register a group and an additional $2 per person per night for anyone 16 or older. The full permit fee will be charged for all reservations. The fee is non-refundable. Overnight use limits are in effect from May through September for the following high-use wilderness camp areas: Ozette Coast Royal Basin/Royal Lake area Grand Valley and Badger Valley area Lake Constance Upper Lena Lake Flapjack Lakes Sol Duc/Seven Lakes Basin/Mink Lake area Hoh Lake and C.B. Flats Elk Lake and Glacier Meadows Group and stock camp sites along the Hoh River Trail Camping is permitted only in designated sites within these areas. Reservations can be submitted by fax or mail using the form found at http://www.nps.gov/olym/planyourvisit/upload/wilderness-permit-reservation-form.pdf Additional information is available online at http://www.nps.gov/olym/planyourvisit/wilderness-permits.htm.

[The Lead Dog]

So you are saying that to take a group of 5 people in for 7 days will cost $75.00??? $5.00 group fee + $2.00 per person fee x 5 people = $10.00 per day x 7 days = $75.00 REALLY?????

[Dane]

5+2 has been the fee setup as long as i can remember...is the only thing that's changed no calling in permits?

[The Lead Dog]

WOW! Maybe that's why I stopped hiking in the Olympics. I forgot!

[RodF]

[The Lead Dog]

I have an honest question and I need an honest answer because I really don't know the ansewr. I have led trips into Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Wyoming and have paid exactly $0.00 in permit fees, and no trail head pass fees or other pass fees. Why is it that ONP and other Parks charge such high fees? Is it because it's a National Park and funded differently from National Forests?

[Malachai Constant]

No because it is a beautiful, interesting area, near a highly paid urban area. It is a question like, why is real estate expensive near Beverly Hills? The simple answer is because they can. Remember if you want you can even go to Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana if you want. So it goes.

[RodF]

Lead Dog, it's up to Congress (who established the NPS fee program) and the public (in Olympic, a proposed increase in fees to keep up with inflation was rejected due to public input). Fees go only to direct visitor facilities, including new restrooms, trail bridges, visitor center exhibits and information kiosks, and picnic tables. Depending on where you go on USFS lands, you may have need a Northwest Forest Pass, too. If "we" were willing to fund things fully through taxes, we wouldn't need fees, and that goes for Parks, schools, roads, etc, etc. Malachai, fees are similar at Glacier, Yellowstone, Big Bend, etc.

[Randito]

[The Lead Dog]

They have those same things (amenities) in the states I mentioned but with out any $$$ needed to hike in. They must get the money from somewhere else to avoid passing their expenses to us. When we were coming back from Idaho last year Mr Gnome and I stopped at a campsite along the Salmon River. There was a picnic table under a shelter with a fire grate for cooking. We saw dozens of these campsites on our way back to Montana. The cool thing about it all was they were free to stay in! The big fancy ones with concrete RV pads, showers, big restrooms and a boat launch, ect did charge, but they were the exception.

[RodF]

[wakerobin]

I don't hike much in NP's because I hike with a dog, but, really by FAX? Who even has a fax anymore? I bet there are kids who don't even know what a fax is.

[Criminal]

Wait, what's a fax?

[RumiDude]

I can fax with either my printer or simply use my computer to fax. Pretty dang simple really. Drive to Montana costs waaaaaaaaaaay more in gas than it does to go to ONP. One could go to NCNP where there is no entrance fee nor any backcountry camping fee. But just last summer we did a road trip across Washington, Idaho, and Montana. Except for dispersed camping, every campground charged a fee. Maybe we were just unlucky in where we decided to stop for the night. Rumi

[ranger rock]

Well at least they have not switched to the online site that charges an extra fee of $6.00 just to make a reservation. I pretty much avoid the park because I have a dog and I don't like being pestered for permits even when I have one. It interferes with the outdoor experience for me if the ranger who asks to see my permit just happens to be a jerk. I wish the parks were fully funded by taxes so that everyone could enjoy them. Grand Canyon and Yellowstone charge a lot more for entrance than ONP does. Wisconsin and MN charge for day use in state parks and make you pay the fee even if you are camping unless you have the annual pass. Some state parks in Idaho have no tent sites and force tenters to pay the full RV hook up fee. DNR campgrounds used to be free but now we have the discover your anus pass and the DNR only honors disabled veterans with free passes. I stayed in a free campground about 15 miles north of Butte once, that was nice. Forest service campgrounds are the best in my opinion. They are more rustic and give a 50% discount for seniors and disabled no matter what state they are from.