Yellowstone Backcountry Lottery 2026

Did you get a YNP early access lottery spot this year?

  • Yes

    Votes: 10 55.6%

  • No

    Votes: 4 22.2%

  • Didn't enter

    Votes: 4 22.2%
  • Total voters
    18
Yeah... Some of them think they are special.
 
scatman said:
I struck out, my son stuck out and my daughter also was unsuccessful, but my wife pulled an April 2nd slot, so I like our chances of getting what we want for our family trip at Shoshone Lake in August.

I have a hard time believing that there was a 75% success rate. :thinking: Since implementing this lottery on recreation.gov, I've whiffed three times, before the lottery I never had an issue getting what I wanted, and we're talking going on 30 years using the old system. It's Bullshit!
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This is the trip with your son and his girlfriend, right? April 2 should be good for you, I hope.
 
scatman said:
I struck out, my son stuck out and my daughter also was unsuccessful, but my wife pulled an April 2nd slot, so I like our chances of getting what we want for our family trip at Shoshone Lake in August.

I have a hard time believing that there was a 75% success rate. :thinking: Since implementing this lottery on recreation.gov, I've whiffed three times, before the lottery I never had an issue getting what I wanted, and we're talking going on 30 years using the old system. It's Bullshit!
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3 of my family entered and all were successful, 2 of us got the 12th and one of us got the 13th.

2 of us entered last year and both got dates, sounds like our luck is soon to run out in comparison though!
 
scatman said:
Yes, that's the trip. I'll be trying to get campsite 8R5 for two nights near the geyser basin and then one of the OA sites on the way in and again on the way out.
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I'd be pretty surprised if you couldn't get those! I've had trouble getting OA sites a couple times before, but that's been on much later lottery dates. Love 8R5; long spur trail to get there!
 
tmailes said:
3 of my family entered and all were successful, 2 of us got the 12th and one of us got the 13th.

2 of us entered last year and both got dates, sounds like our luck is soon to run out in comparison though!
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You must be holding your tongue just right. :) Congrats on all the successful draws.
 
Jackson said:
I'd be pretty surprised if you couldn't get those! I've had trouble getting OA sites a couple times before, but that's been on much later lottery dates. Love 8R5; long spur trail to get there!
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I've got my fingers crossed. I did a trip years ago from the Bechler Ranger Station to Old Faithful and stayed one night at one of the OAs, but I don't remember which one. All I know is that we built a homemade ladder up the bear pole. :)

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Never reserve sites much.... Is OA special for some reason?
 
Bob said:
Never reserve sites much.... Is OA special for some reason?
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No not special. There are three OA sites along the Firehole River numbered 1,2 and 3, roughly located about halfway to Shoshone Lake.
 
I thought OA3 was the nicest when we passed by, but I can't remember why. I do remember a bison in the meadow near one of the sites, so it was probably OA3 and that is why I liked it :)
 
Bob said:
Never reserve sites much.... Is OA special for some reason?
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I don't know exactly why, but it's often a harder area for us to get when we've done shuttle routes from Lone Star to Bechler. I guess they're nice for overnighters from the Old Faithful area? OA3 is a great spot.
 
K ...thought I was missing something. Ive stayed at one by Lonestar many years ago....
 
scatman said:
You must be holding your tongue just right. :) Congrats on all the successful draws.
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Do you think we will have trouble booking Thorofare sites end of August with an April 12th draw ? We are looking to go in and out of Nine Mile TH
 
tmailes said:
Do you think we will have trouble booking Thorofare sites end of August with an April 12th draw ? We are looking to go in and out of Nine Mile TH
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Once we got south of the lake, we did not see anyone at all. This was the middle of August 2023. There were only a couple parties along the lake as well. I think if you are flexible with sites and dates, you will be fine.
 
I got April 15th. I think last year I got a date that was similarly about two weeks in. I started out getting some sites up Cache Creek, and ended up switching them to go along the lake down toward the Thorofare. Scatman is correct, flexibility is important. The very first year I got the first day, and one year I got nothing.

I've done the OA sites a number of times, usually later in the season. They are nice places for an overnight. It's special to go for a walk, stop to eat a snack and watch a geyser, then toddle on.
 
So you'd think that my wife getting an April 2nd draw would lead to a successful reservation of campsites that you want, but alas that is not the case. When I went into recreation.gov at 2:00 pm this afternoon to book my sites, I was actually able to get 8R5 on Shoshone Lake for the two nights I needed, but the sites I need (OD1, OD2, OD3) were not available heading in, or heading out. Also the horse site near Shoshone was booked going in. Since I had certain criteria that I needed to follow (exact dates, 5 miles or less days), I wasn't able to pull off Shoshone Lake as a destination, so I'll be heading back to Ice, Wolf and Grebe Lakes again. That's make Ice and Wolf Lakes three times in two years, since I'll be heading back to Ice in September, which kind of sucks, but I guess the trip is for my son and his girlfriend so I should just shut up. :poop: :mad:
 
I'm sorry to hear that Scatman. At 4 o'clock today, Kevin (he's on this group, but I'm not sure what his group name is) got a little group of us a trip going in at Delacy, and coming out Lone Star. I honestly hoped we might cross paths, and I had thought that maybe I might be able to share some Circus Peanuts. I hope you have a nice trip in the Chain of Lakes. Last year, Grebe had loons with a little one, and there were swans with three or four cygnets. I also saw black-necked stilts. They looked like American Avocets, but wrong. An ornithologist friend explained that they are in the same family, which is likely why they looked so much alike. Oh, and a snipe went by in the night. They sound like a flying saucer (the same ornithologist helped with that). Heck, on one trip, there was also a wedding that took place in the area the fish hatchery was. It was quite a weekend, if you stopped to watch. I had plenty of coffee, so I did watch.

Does anybody know how often the lottery times are? Is it one person an hour, or people every five minutes, or ???

I wish folks luck.
 
scatman said:
So you'd think that my wife getting an April 2nd draw would lead to a successful reservation of campsites that you want, but alas that is not the case. When I went into recreation.gov at 2:00 pm this afternoon to book my sites, I was actually able to get 8R5 on Shoshone Lake for the two nights I needed, but the sites I need (OD1, OD2, OD3) were not available heading in, or heading out. Also the horse site near Shoshone was booked going in. Since I had certain criteria that I needed to follow (exact dates, 5 miles or less days), I wasn't able to pull off Shoshone Lake as a destination, so I'll be heading back to Ice, Wolf and Grebe Lakes again. That's make Ice and Wolf Lakes three times in two years, since I'll be heading back to Ice in September, which kind of sucks, but I guess the trip is for my son and his girlfriend so I should just shut up. :poop: :mad:
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I'm really sorry to hear that, it would have been a great intro to backpacking for your son's girlfriend. I'm sure everyone will still have fun at Ice Lake. I'll cross my fingers and hope for good weather for you guys :)
 
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