PermitPulse

Permits for the Boundary Waters, Rocky Mountain National Park and the Great Smoky Mountains are gone within minutes of going on sale. The good news is that people cancel all the time, and those spots quietly reappear on recreation.gov. The bad news is that nobody tells you when.

That's what PermitPulse is for.

Pick the entry point or campsite you want and the dates you can go. PermitPulse checks recreation.gov every five minutes, around the clock, and the moment a permit opens up your phone buzzes.

WHAT'S COVERED

Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness: overnight paddle, hike and motor entry points, plus day motor.

Rocky Mountain National Park: wilderness camping permits, by camp area and group size.

Great Smoky Mountains: backcountry campsites and trail shelters.

HOW IT WORKS

Choose a park, an entry point or starting area, and the dates you can go. PermitPulse starts watching. When something opens up you get a push notification and an email listing the dates that came free, and you book it on recreation.gov yourself.

If a permit stays open, you'll get one reminder a day, so a trip you were still thinking over doesn't quietly slip past you.

A FEW OTHER THINGS

Dark mode, for the 5am checks from inside a tent.

Push and email alerts can each be turned on or off, so you can have one without the other.

For Rocky Mountain and the Smokies you can set your group size and pick specific campsites, or just watch a whole area at once.

Your first watch is free. After that watches run on tokens: buy a small bundle once and spend them when you need to. Nothing renews and there's no subscription.

PermitPulse isn't affiliated with recreation.gov, the Forest Service or the National Park Service, and it can't book anything for you. It watches so you don't have to, and tells you the moment there's something worth grabbing.

Questions, bugs, or an entry point we're missing: permitpulseapp@gmail.com