A lot of great data here too: https://irma.nps.gov/Stats/ I used it to build my National Park visitation visualization: https://jordan-vincent.com/night-under-the-stars

Your project is awesome! Nice work

You are correct and I updated the article to reflect that. Thank you!

Hey there! Booking backpacking permits in California can be tough! I love going outdoors, but I'm terrible at planning, so I wanted to understand how fast backpacking permits run out.

So I scrapped permit availabilities in Tahoe's Desolation Wilderness, and I created a data visualization to explore it. I hope that it helps you plan your next trip!

This is very cool and helpful. I have a lot of fond memories of the Desolation Wilderness.

If any of you have tried to backpack in the Grand Canyon National Park, you know how hard it is to get a permit. You must fill out a tax-form like application and fax it (yes, you read correctly) 4 months in advance. You must send the application within a 10-day window or it won't be processed. Finally, applying doesn't even guarantee a permit. A final lottery picks the lucky winners!

Unfortunately, National Parks are only accessible to those who have the right information and a lot of patience. 2 years ago, I created a National Parks visualization to help with that: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20563745 That was a great overview. But you still had to do a lot of research to plan your trip.

Rim to Rim Permits allows you to apply for a permit online up to one year in advance. It takes care of filling out and sending the permit application on your behalf.

Please have a look and let me know what you think!