Half Dome Day Hike - Pre-Permit Application

Pre-Permit Lottery Reservation

This booking is for a non-confirmed/pre-permit deadline tour. We have not yet applied for permits for your desired travel month. By submitting your application with this booking, we will apply for a permit for you/your group in the desired month of travel that you indicate in this booking. Permits are issued through a lottery and are not guaranteed.

Bookings made prior to the permit application deadline are not required to pay a deposit. We apply for Yosemite Half Dome Day Hiking permits in March every year and receive the permits we are issued through the lottery around the second week of April. If we are successful in acquiring a permit for your group, we will notify you upon our receipt of the permits to provide permit start date options. If one of the options provided does work for you, the non-refundable full tour cost will be due to secure you/your group on the provided start date/permit.

Permit Placement Process

We place all of our clients onto the permits we receive based on booking date. The earlier you put your name in for the permit lottery, the higher on the list you will be and the higher the likelihood that you will be placed onto a permit in your month of choice.

Availability/Flexibility

We request that you provide us with the widest range of availability that you have when reserving your tour. This will give us the best chance to acquire and place you on a permit.

Tour Cost and Pricing

• Tour prices are subject to change and the total cost of the tour will be the publicly advertised price at the time of permit placement, which takes place after we have applied for permits for the month you are wanting to hike during. Signing up early gives you a much higher chance of being placed on a permit but does not lock you into the publicly advertised price at the time of your pre-permit deadline reservation.

• Discovery Treks prides itself in offering extremely competitive pricing that is directly comparable to the major competition. Any price increases are a direct result of general market price increases across the industry.

Price Lock Options

• If you would like to lock in the current price for a Half Dome Day HIking tour at the time of your pre-deadline reservation, you may do so by paying the non-refundable full tour cost at the time of your booking. This price lock is valid for 2 years from the date of your booking. We only recommend this option to travelers who are very flexible with their hike start dates/months.

FAQ's

What happens if Discovery Treks is unable to secure a permit for the timeframe that I applied for?
- If we are unable to secure a permit for the timeframe you would like to hike during, we are able to roll your booking over for a subsequent month/timeframe of your choosing and you will maintain your original booking date, moving you up the placement list.

How will I be contacted when permits are received?
- Once we receive our permits for your desired hike timeframe, we will call you when your name is next up on the list. If we do not reach you via phone, we will leave a voicemail and send a follow up email indicating you are next on the list and to get back in touch with us ASAP. We give you a 72 hour window to respond before we move to the next group on the placement list

Can I add people to my reservation after I have submitted my reservation details but before the application deadline?
- Yes! We are happy to increase/decrease the size of your group until we reach the permit deadline. Any fellow travelers who join your reservation will have the benefit of being placed based on the earliest original booking date of anyone in the group.

Can I add people to my reservation after the application deadline?
- No. Once we apply for permits, group sizes are locked.

What is the max group size?
- Half Dome Day hiking permits are capped at 5 hikers to 1 guide. Occasionally, we receive more than one permit for a specific date and can run the hike for up to 10 people with 2 guides.

What is the likelihood that I will be placed on a permit during my desired timeframe?
- We are unable to give specific percent chances or likelihoods regarding if we will be able to get you placed on a permit or not. We take reservations from many different groups with very different ranges of availabilities and flexibility. Additionally, due to permits being issued through a lottery, we are not able to gauge what permit start dates we will get for any given month. Due to these uncertainties, we just simply recommend that you sign up as early as possible to increase your chances or permit placement.