The Enchantments draws more obsession per square mile than anywhere else in Washington. Tens of thousands of people apply every February for a chance at a backpacking trip in an alpine basin full of turquoise lakes, granite spires, and mountain goats that have never heard of personal space. The Core Zone acceptance rate is somewhere below 5% in most years. People plan entire hiking seasons around a trip they’re probably not going to get.
This is everything you need to know about the Enchantments permit system—how it works, where people go wrong, and every realistic path to getting in, whether you’re targeting 2027 or trying to salvage something this season.
Key Dates
| Event | 2026 Dates | 2027 Dates (Expected) |
|---|---|---|
| Lottery Opens | February 15 | ~February 15 |
| Lottery Closes | March 1 | ~March 1 |
| Results Announced | March 17 | ~March 17 |
| Acceptance Deadline | March 31, 11:59 PM PT | ~March 31 |
| Unclaimed Permits Released | April 1, 7:00 AM PT | ~April 1, 7:00 AM PT |
| Permit Season | May 15 – October 31 | May 15 – October 31 |
2027 dates haven’t been officially announced. Every prior year has followed the same February 15 – March 1 window. Check recreation.gov in January 2027 to confirm.
Why Does This Permit Exist?
For years the Forest Service watched the Core Zone absorb more foot traffic than a fragile high-alpine ecosystem can absorb. The soil is thin, recovery time is long, and the cumulative damage from thousands of people camping around the same cluster of lakes compounds fast. The permit system exists because the alternative—unrestricted access—was visibly destroying one of the best wilderness areas in the country.
Permits are required for all overnight camping during permit season, May 15 through October 31. Day hiking the Enchantments doesn’t require one, which matters more than most people realize—more on that below.
How the System Works
The Five Zones
Before you apply, you need to understand the five permit zones. This is where most people stumble—they apply for the Core Zone because that’s what they’ve seen in every photo, without understanding how the odds actually break down.
The five permit zones:
- Core Enchantment Zone — 24 people per day, counted by individuals not groups. The most competitive by a wide margin. Core Zone permit holders can camp anywhere in the permit area, which only adds to the demand.
- Colchuck Lake Zone — 3 groups per day
- Snow Lake Zone — 5 groups per day
- Stuart Lake Zone — 4 groups per day
- Eightmile/Caroline Zone — 3 groups per day
That distinction between people and groups matters. The Colchuck Lake Zone allows 3 groups per day regardless of size. Three separate parties of eight could all be in the Colchuck Zone on the same day. For the Core Zone, you’re competing for 24 individual spots. Period.
The Annual Permit Lottery
The annual permit lottery runs February 15 through March 1 on Recreation.gov. Seventy-five percent of all permits for the season are distributed here. The process is two steps:
Step 1: Submit during the window. Select your zone, entry date, group size, and pay the $6 non-refundable application fee. One application per person per season—enforced.
Step 2: After March 17, log in to see your results. If you won, accept and pay the overnight permit fee ($5 per person per day) by March 31 at 11:59 PM PT. Miss that deadline and your permit returns to the system on April 1.
Nothing can be changed after you submit. Entry date, zone, group size for Core Zone, and alternate group leader are all locked. Name an alternate who will actually be available. If your alternate wins a permit as an alternate, they can’t hold a separate permit anywhere in the system that same season.
The Daily Geofence Lottery
The Enchantments replaced the traditional walk-up lottery in 2024 with a mobile geofence system—the same approach the BLM uses for The Wave in Arizona. It’s more accessible than the old process and considerably less understood.
Between 7:00 AM and 10:00 AM, the day before your intended entry, you can apply from a location-enabled smartphone—but only if you’re physically within one mile of the Wenatchee River Ranger Station in Leavenworth. Winners are notified by 11:00 AM and must pick up their permit at the Leavenworth ranger station by 4:00 PM.
What most people don't know
The geofence lottery is closed on Saturdays and Sundays—which means no geofence permits exist for trips starting on Sundays or Mondays. Those dates are advanced lottery only. If you're counting on the geofence lottery for a weekend trip, you don't have a plan.
This lottery covers roughly 25% of daily permits. It runs May through October, subject to ranger station staffing.
The April 1 Release
Any permits lottery winners didn’t claim return to recreation.gov on April 1 at 7:00 AM PT as standard first-come, first-served reservations.
What most people don't know
The April 1 release isn't just scraps. Lottery winners who miss the March 31 acceptance deadline forfeit their permits back into the pool—and some of those are peak-season Core Zone dates. It's worth setting a 6:45 AM alarm for.
How to Improve Your Odds
Apply for Colchuck Zone Instead of Core Zone
The most actionable advice in this entire guide. The Core Zone runs below 5% acceptance for most trip dates. Colchuck Lake Zone runs 8–10% in the same months. And here’s what most applicants don’t know:
What most people don't know
A Colchuck Zone permit still gets you Colchuck Lake—which is legitimately spectacular—plus full day hiking access to the Core Zone basin. With an early start from camp, you can climb Aasgard Pass and spend most of a full day in the upper Enchantments without a Core Zone permit. You're not missing the Enchantments. You're just not sleeping there.
Apply Shoulder Season
May, June, and October have meaningfully better odds than July and August. You’ll deal with snow—especially on the steep snow slopes of Aasgard Pass—but the numbers work in your favor. If you go in May or June, be prepared for real snow travel. Aasgard Pass is steep, the snow can be icy in the morning, and people have died glissading into creek holes in the snowpack.
Apply Weekdays
Midweek dates—Tuesday through Thursday—see lower demand. August weekends are the most competitive in the system.
Apply with a Smaller Group (Core Zone)
For the Core Zone, quota is counted by people. A party of two competes more favorably than a party of six for the same 24 daily spots.
For the Geofence Lottery: Just Show Up in Leavenworth
Get there the night before. Have your zone, dates, and payment ready before 7:00 AM. The application window is three hours and location-dependent. There’s no workaround for not being there.
Track Cancellations
Permits get cancelled throughout the season. Plans change, weather forecasts discourage people, and permits return to recreation.gov unannounced. They disappear in just a few minutes. A permit alert service is the only realistic way to catch them.
What the Hike Actually Is
The Thru-Hike
Hiking the Enchantments as a thru-hike means 18 miles one-way between Stuart Lake Trailhead and Snow Lakes Trailhead, with roughly 6,000 feet of elevation gain. Most people go Stuart to Snow, uphill through Aasgard Pass on the way in, easier descent to Snow Lakes Trailhead on the way out.
Aasgard Pass is where the route earns its reputation. It’s 2,000 feet in about a mile, over steep loose rock and, in early season, consolidated snow. It’s not technical climbing. But it’s not hiking either. It’s the kind of terrain that separates people who read trip reports from people who didn’t.
What most people don't know
Aasgard Pass is particularly dangerous in early morning in spring. The snowpack is often icy and consolidated until late morning. Most experienced hikers time their approach to hit the pass mid-morning when the snow has softened—even if it means a later trailhead start.
The Zones, on the Ground
Core Zone: The alpine basin everyone is trying to get into. Inspiration Lake, Perfection Lake, Lake Viviane, Leprechaun Lake—bright blue alpine lakes surrounded by granite peaks and those mountain goats. This is the zone that allows camping anywhere in the permit area, which is why it’s so sought after. It’s genuinely worth the obsession.
Colchuck Zone: Colchuck Lake sits at 5,570 feet beneath Dragontail Peak and is the kind of place people discover and feel like they’ve found a secret. From camp, a strong hiker can day hike up Aasgard Pass into the Core Zone and be back before dinner. This is the best value in the permit system.
Snow Zone: Lower in elevation, different character. Snow Lakes and Upper Snow Lake sit in a quieter stretch of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, beautiful and significantly less crowded than the upper basin. Better odds, more solitude, still a serious wilderness trip.
Stuart Zone: Access via Stuart Lake Trailhead, with Stuart Lake itself as the primary destination. The views of Mount Stuart from here are some of the best in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness.
Eightmile/Caroline Zone: The quietest zone in the system. For hikers who came for the wilderness, not the Instagram shot.
Day Hiking
No Enchantments permit required for day hiking. The full traverse is 18 miles one-way with over 6,000 feet of gain, and most people do it with a car shuttle between trailheads. Start at Stuart Lake Trailhead, end at Snow Lakes Trailhead, or reverse it. This is not a casual outing. Treat it like a big mountain day: early start, headlamp, layers, enough water, no optimism about the return.
Rules Worth Knowing
- Permits must be printed and signed by the permit holder. A photo on your phone is not valid.
- The permit holder must be present with a photo ID. Rangers check.
- Group members must begin their trip and camp with the permit holder every night.
- One application per person per season. Enforced.
- Permits are non-transferable.
- Zone and entry date cannot be changed after application.
- An Overnight Visitor Parking Pass comes with your permit—display it on the dashboard at trailheads or expect a citation.
- A Northwest Forest Pass is required at trailheads.
Cancellation Policy
Cancel 22 or more days out and you get a refund. Cancel within 21 days and you don’t. The $6 application fee is never refunded. No refunds for weather—and the Forest Service means it. If you apply for a May date and it snows, that’s your problem.
If you can’t go, cancel on recreation.gov. Someone else is waiting.
Gear You Actually Need
The Enchantments is a genuine alpine environment. This list isn’t suggestions.
- Bear canister — required throughout the Enchantments permit area
- Microspikes or crampons — mandatory for May and June, often necessary in October; Aasgard Pass on icy snow without traction is not a situation you want to be in
- Ice axe — serious consideration for May trips through Aasgard Pass
- Wag Bag — required when snow covers the ground; the ranger station has them, but bring your own
- Trekking poles — the Aasgard Pass descent is meaningfully safer with them
- Layers — temperature swings in the alpine basin are dramatic; August mornings can be genuinely cold
- Ten essentials — at this elevation, in this terrain, non-negotiable
Get Permit Alerts
The Enchantments is one of the permits we track at WildernessBeta. Cancellations happen throughout the season. Permits return to recreation.gov with no announcement and disappear in just a few minutes. Sign up below and we’ll alert you when they appear.
Information verified against Recreation.gov and the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. Dates confirmed for 2026; 2027 dates are expected to follow the same pattern and will be updated when officially published. Last verified: June 2026.
