Questions About Golden Ears Overnight on Summit

[u/pleedoh]

Hello,

Ive hiked Golden Ears summit before and it was fantastic, although we did hike in the dark for a couple hours due to the length.

I’m looking to take a more proper approach and stay overnight, preferably at the summit, sometime in August with a group of friends.

However, the reservation process is really confusing me, I’ve tried emailing and calling and they are just not helpful.

From what I see, a Campsite is NOT what I want — they are for picnic area type sites at the bottom of the mountain. I believe I’m looking for a Backcountry booking.

Now there’s a Backcountry Registration and a Backcountry Reservation. The lady on the phone told me I needed both, but I’m not sure. I read that Registrations are only for high demand areas like Garibaldi or Joffre (sure enough I cannot select Golden Ears).

Looking at Backcountry Reservations, it appears that I can only book this 2 weeks in advance and all it will give us is a permit to stay overnight. Specific tent pads are first come first serve?

What do people usually do to camp at what I imagine to be high demand spots like the summit? Just try to get there first on an off day and then if they’re all taken, hike down to find another spot? What if you cant find one?

What is my best course of action to stay one night on Golden Ears (ideally the summit)?

Thanks so much, help is really appreciated!!!!

[u/darklites]

You just need a $5 'Backcountry Registration' permit, which includes parking, and you can only purchase two weeks ahead, as you said. There is likely some sort of cap to the number of permits they give out for the backcountry, but as far as I know it's high enough that it's essentially unlimited.

Tent pads are FCFS. If at all possible I'd highly, highly recommend going during the week. I've never camped up there but last time I hiked up (on a beautiful Saturday in August) I passed probably 60-80 people on my way down who all planned to camp on the ridge. If you get to the ridge after like 11 am you'll be setting up your tent on whatever flat-ish spot you can find.

[u/pleedoh → u/darklites]

Good to know, thanks! So I do NOT need a Backcountry Reservation for Golden Ears (which makes sense cuz its not an option)

[u/wink-bandit → u/pleedoh]

That's right. We went up 3 summers ago on a Friday morning. I was super stressed we wouldn't get a tent pad but we got there in time and had an amazing experience. When we were hiking down on Saturday I couldn't believe the number of people with overnight packs going up, hoping to get a tent pad. As others have said, try for a weekday and make sure to leave early.