YOSEMITE – Yosemite National Park officials have announced that the 2019 preseason lottery for Half Dome permits will be delayed “due to a transition to a new contracted provider.”
The preseason lottery for the popular hike typically opens on Mar. 1. No date has yet been determined as to when the lottery will open this year.
All hikers are required to have permits to ascend the subdome steps and the Half Dome cables when the cables are in place.
Park Rangers install the Half Dome cables each spring and take them down each fall – typically in late May and early October – based on weather and trail conditions.
All day-use hiking permits are distributed by lottery via Recreation.gov. In the preseason lottery, there are 225 permits available for each day the cables are up, plus daily lotteries during the hiking season.
To include Half Dome as part of an overnight wilderness trip please visit https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/hdwildpermits.htm.
Park officials strongly encourage all visitors planning to apply for permits to thoroughly read all information posted on Yosemite National Park’s Half Dome page and the Cables on Half Dome on Recreation.gov as there have been some new changes to the application process.
For the latest information on the status of the Half Dome preseason lottery, please visit https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/hdpermits.htm.
