Overheard a guy at REI say 'nobody goes to the Wonderland Trail anymore' and it got me thinking

He was talking about permit lotteries and crowds, but back in 2012 I walked right up to a ranger station in early July and grabbed a spot for the next day, has anyone else noticed how fast things got popular?

2 comments

2 Comments

patricia_schmidt149d ago

Last summer I tried to book a Wonderland permit and the site crashed for three hours before everything sold out in 20 minutes. It went from a quiet hike to a total circus practically overnight.

terry_jones9d ago

Yeah, the "total circus practically overnight" part hits home. A buddy of mine had been hiking Wonderland for years, no problem. Last summer he tried to get a permit for his usual July week. Site crashed on him too, then everything was gone in like 15 minutes. He ended up driving out there anyway and just did a few day hikes instead. Said the trailhead parking lot looked like a tailgate party, people everywhere with coolers and bluetooth speakers. Not the quiet trip he was after, that's for sure.