View Full Version : section hiking Smokey Mtns.
mellow mountain
07-25-2008, 21:31
Quick question -- just how difficult is it to get a permit to hike the AT through the Smokys? I've read the NPS website and understand that you can't get a permit until 30 days before you go and then you need to specify which shelters you will be staying in.
We are planning on an early May hike through the park. Need to book flights, etc -- is there much of a chance that we wouldn't be able to get permits?
Flush2wice
07-25-2008, 22:55
Shouldn't be a problem, but get your permits as early as you can. Most of the thru hikers will be past there by then and it's after spring break.
Call 30 days before you start your trip and you should be fine.
greentick
07-26-2008, 00:07
Going/starting during the week instead of a weekend will up your chances...
Here's how it was explained to me... I do not endorse nor oppose this approach but it gave me an idea of how the system works.
1. Prior to 30 days before your hike: Plan your hike and figure out what shelters you're going to stay at.
2. 30 days before your hike call and make shelter reservations. If one of your shelters is not available ask for another one, even if it isn't on your itinerary. Take whatever you can get.
3. On your Backcountry Permit list the shelter reservatations you made with the park service.
4. On your hike, stay at whichever shelter you find yourself at on a particular evening. It's not like they're going to airlift you out of the park as punishment. You just do the best you can.
I have hiked through the Smokies 1 time and the time I did I don't know that I met anyone for sure that was where they were supposed to be at night. There's just no way you can know with absolute certainty 30 days before you start hiking where you're going to be on a certain night. I kinda think the shelter reservation system allows the park service at least the minimal ability to limit how many hikers *total* are on the trail at any given time in the park more than it is to know exactly where everyone is.
Ramble~On
07-27-2008, 14:23
Good Advice so far and I agree... you shouldn't have a problem getting reservations 30 days ahead of your hike. Thru-hikers do not get spots in shelters ahead of permit holders...it's the other way around they have to yield to permit holders.
When the shelters are full there are usually folks sleeping in tents/hammocks around the shelters. No one is going to tell you after dark that you have to hike on.
The number of spaces and reservations in GSMNP is closely monitored per site and there are Ridgerunners and Park Service folks that frequent all of them.
These are nice folks doing an excellent job in a very well used National Park.
They know how many reservations have been made for any given date at any given site/shelter. If you're not able to get a spot where you want it there are many backcountry sites on side trails...you might have to add a few extra miles to your hike but what's wrong with that!
edtheshark
07-27-2008, 16:02
though i do most of my hiking in the smokies in the winter time ( i'm speaking specifically between X-mas and a week after New Years) I have never had a problem getting a permit, i even witness people get permits the same day, the shelters closer to newfound gap fill faster like icewater springs, or mt. collins. And in my humble opinion mt. collins has the best privy in GSMNP.
Plodderman
07-27-2008, 17:19
We came from Ohio last year and hiked the Smokies. No problems with reservations as you can call 30 days before. We had to shift some shelters but it was no problem.
One thing that helped was I had them send me some shelter reservation forms and when we started at Fontana we put them in the box. We made our reservations over the phone.
I have never had a problem with reservations in the middle of the week during that time frame.
However, keep this in mind. The 30 day window opens on the first day of your hike. You can book the entire hike although your last day on the trail is outside the 30 day window. On the day you can book, call at the minute the reservation office opens and keep calling every time you get a busy signal. The shelters closest to NFG usually book first it seems. Mt Collins, Ice Water, Le Conte (not on the AT) Silars Bald and Double Springs have been the only ones I have had trouble booking if I call on the first day of the 30 day window.