The Half Dome Permit Nobody Talks About
There's a persistent myth that Half Dome permits are nearly impossible to get. I want to put that myth to bed.
Here's the truth: day hiking Half Dome permits are hard to get. However, if you're willing to backpack and are flexible on dates, starting location, and are willing to plan in advance, your odds change dramatically. This post is about the workaround most people overlook.
The Backpacker Loophole
Yosemite has seven wilderness permit trailheads that are eligible for Half Dome. Each has its own first-night camping restrictions, but they all share one thing in common: if you're willing to sleep a single night in the backcountry before your summit attempt, you can enter the lottery for any of them.
The Lottery
The first step is entering the lottery, which needs to be done 24 weeks in advance. You will enter the lottery and pay the fee. You'll select all 7 trailheads as your choices, select the whole week for each trailhead, select your group size, and pay the $10 fee to enter the lottery. The results will be released the following Monday. When you win the lottery, you will then fill in the final bit of details and pay any remainder of the fee.
Too late to enter the lottery?
If the window to get a permit via the lottery has passed, you can wait for the permits to open up for first come first serve and wait for them to be released which is 9am Pacific Time.
The Seven Eligible Trailheads
Here's the lineup, roughly ordered from closest to farthest from the Half Dome summit. All distances are approximate one-way miles from the trailhead to the summit.
Happy Isles → Little Yosemite Valley is the classic, about 8.5 miles to the summit. You head up the Mist Trail past Vernal and Nevada Falls and camp at Little Yosemite Valley Camp. It's the most direct route, but it also has the most elevation gain.
Happy Isles → Past LYV (Donohue Pass Eligible) is roughly 9.5 miles and starts at the same trailhead, but this permit does not allow you to camp at Little Yosemite Valley. Most people continue about two miles past LYV and camp in the Sunrise Creek area. This permit doubles as your entry permit if you're continuing on the John Muir Trail.
Glacier Point → Little Yosemite Valley is about 9 miles and follows the scenic Panorama Trail past Illilouette and Nevada Falls before camping at Little Yosemite Valley Camp. It has less total elevation gain than the Happy Isles routes. Glacier Point Road is seasonal.
Mono Meadow, also off Glacier Point Road, is roughly 13 miles to the summit. The first-night camp at Illilouette Creek (about 3 miles in) is required. Mono Meadow has less elevation gain than the valley starts, but again, Glacier Point Road is closed in winter and early spring.
Sunrise Lakes, off Tioga Road, is about 14 miles and mostly downhill toward Half Dome. First-night camping is in the Sunrise Lakes area. Because it's a one-way route, you'll need to arrange a shuttle. Tioga Road is seasonal.
Cathedral Lakes, starting from Tuolumne, is roughly 19 miles to the summit with a stunning alpine start. Your first night is at Upper or Lower Cathedral Lake, about 3.5 miles in. This is a long route, typically a three-plus day trip. Tioga Road is seasonal.
Rafferty Creek → Vogelsang, also from Tuolumne, is the longest option at around 22 miles. You'll camp the first night in the Vogelsang area or at Boothe Lake, roughly 7 miles in. The route takes you through high alpine meadows and past multiple lakes. Tioga Road is seasonal.
A couple of patterns worth noting:
The Tioga Road and Glacier Point Road trailheads are seasonal. Both roads typically open in late May or early June and close with the first major snow. If you're going in early season or late season, your only real options are the Happy Isles trailheads.
The longer routes from Tuolumne are mostly downhill toward Half Dome. they look intimidating on paper but are gentler in practice. The catch is they're one-way trips, so you'll need a shuttle, two cars, or YARTS.
First-night restrictions exist on every permit. You will need to camp at the area indicated on your permit, It could be the backpacker’s camp in Little Yosemite Valley, or three miles in at Illilouette Creek depending on the permit you win
Why Your Odds Are So Much Better
Two things stack in your favor with this approach:
1. You can select an entire week at a time. When you enter the lottery, you're not betting on a single date. You can pick a full week as your first choice, then another week as your second choice, and so on.
2. Selecting more than one trailhead. Because there are 7 trailheads you can pick from, you have more chances.
Those two factors combine. You have 7 days in a week and 7 different trailheads, giving you 49 possible permits.
Here's how the draw actually works: when your name comes up, the system checks your first pick and finds a day that accommodates your whole group. It starts with your first choice in trailhead and checks if it can make Monday work; if Monday doesn't work, it tries Tuesday. Then Wednesday. All the way through Sunday. Only after exhausting your first week does it move to your second choice and repeat the process.
Smaller groups can squeeze into an opening
Since the trailhead quota is based on the number of people, smaller groups can fit in more easily. If the park service allows 10 people per day through a particular trailhead, and a group of 8 got a permit before you, and you have a group of three, you will be denied your permit since 8 + 3 is greater than 10. However, two people can squeeze into a quota.
If you still do not get a permit, enter the lottery for the following week.
The Bonus: A Better Hike Anyway
Beyond the permit math, there are real quality-of-life reasons to do it this way:
No ungodly pre-dawn start. Day hikers are typically on trail by 2 or 5 AM to beat afternoon storms and finish before dark.
You can split the climb. Take the Mist Trail up out of Yosemite Valley on day one and camp at Little Yosemite Valley. Hit Half Dome at a civilized hour the next morning.
You don't have to break camp. Leave your tent and most of your gear at your campsite, summit Half Dome with a light daypack, then return to the same spot. No packing up, no carrying weight up the cables.
The "extra effort" of backpacking is mostly a single uphill push to camp — and then you get to do Half Dome rested, light, and on your own schedule.
Don't forget to plan logistics
I recommend you spend a couple of nights in the valley, either before or after your Half Dome hike, and either reserve a campsite or a lodge. If you are not hiking back the way you came on your final day, plan logistics. I have picked up several hitchhikers in Yosemite and got them to their trailhead, but you do not want to plan on that.
When you get to the park
Now you have arrived at the park and walk into the wilderness office. You will speak with the ranger, who will go over things, food storage, bear awareness, Leave No Trace, where you plan to camp, etc. Tell them you want to add Half Dome to your permit, and they will charge you an additional $10 a person and print you a permit.
Final Thoughts
This is all for the permit season, late May to early October. Outside of that time no quota, no reservation; you can arrive at the park and fill out a permit. But there is a catch. You run into cold weather, ice on trails, and cables are down, so you will need additional equipment and gear to safely ascend the cables.
Speaking of safety, keep your eye on the weather. The granite of Half Dome is worn smooth, and a little bit of rain makes it very slick; that is when most people die. Be smart. Remember that “up is optional, down is mandatory.” Please know what you are capable of and know that this hike is not worth never hiking again in your life.
Safe hiking and see you on the trails.