Mount Whitney
Schematic Whitney Portal to the summit. Not a GPS track. Cited round trip about 35 km is editorial. DEM high 4,394 m governs; 14,505 ft is a landmark.
Last verified 2026-09-23 vs U.S. Forest Service (USFS) — Inyo National Forest
Byline
- The Hiking World editorial · author
Desk byline for seed records. Named surveying editors replace this once a trail is verified.
Figures marked provisional are seed data and still need verification. Source and last-checked date sit under each cited value.
Permits and fees
Quota / restriction: Quota-season daily caps (~100 day-use / ~60 overnight); annual lottery Feb 1 – Mar 1; unlimited non-quota permits Nov 2 – Apr 30.
| Permit | Cost | Quota / restriction | Issuer | Source | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Application feeOfficial source | $6 USD | — | Not recorded | Issuer page | Verified 2026-09-23 vs Not recorded |
| Recreation feeOfficial source | $15 USD (on award) | — | Not recorded | Issuer page | Verified 2026-09-23 vs Not recorded |
Altitude weather delta
High 4,394 m minus low 2,393 m is 2,001 m of relief on this record. A standard tropospheric lapse of 6.5 °C per 1,000 m implies about 13 °C cooler at the high point than the valley, all else equal.
That is a model (International Standard Atmosphere environmental lapse), not a forecast and not a trail-closure. Wind, snow, and storms stay in Hazards.
derived:lapse-rate · 2026-09-10 · provisionalISA 6.5 °C / 1,000 m · wikipedia.org · 2026-09-10
This line is a schematic. The files are not a GPS track. GPX · GeoJSON
Editorial v1 · Provisional catalog
- SAC T3
- Demanding mountain hiking. Exposed sections possible; hands may be needed for balance.
- YDS Class 2
- Class 2. Simple scrambling, occasional use of hands.
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OpenStreetMap pins only (ODbL): Whitney Portal node 150933529, Mount Whitney summit node 944865772 (Wikidata Q235539). No single complete route relation was confirmed. Return is not doubled.
Cited round trip about 35 km (~22 mi) is editorial. Pin spacing is not that walk.
DEM high 4,394 m. Cited 14,505 ft / 4,419.6 m OSM ele is a landmark and does not replace the DEM. Ascent is high minus low. Stored one-way descent is 0.
Water
No water sources recorded.
Surface
Surface is not recorded. This field is filled only from an OSM surface tag, not from the grade.
Permits & fees
- Permit
- Mount Whitney Trail permit
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Getting there
No sourced gateway chain yet.
Trailheads
- Whitney Portal car-free: unknown
- Mount Whitney summit car-free: unknown
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Hazards
- DEM high 4,394 m. This two-pin line is not the Mount Whitney Trail tread.
Questions
Do I need a permit for Mount Whitney?
A permit is listed as required for Mount Whitney: Mount Whitney Trail permit. Status on this record is an official source.
How much is the Mount Whitney permit?
Application fee: $6 USD (Not recorded, verified 2026-09-23). Status: verified-official. Recreation fee: $15 USD (on award) (Not recorded, verified 2026-09-23). Status: verified-official.
Mount Whitney permit quota and booking
Quota-season daily caps (~100 day-use / ~60 overnight); annual lottery Feb 1 – Mar 1; unlimited non-quota permits Nov 2 – Apr 30.
How difficult is Mount Whitney?
Mount Whitney is graded SAC T3 · YDS 2. A sourced hazard on this record: DEM high 4,394 m. This two-pin line is not the Mount Whitney Trail tread.
How long is Mount Whitney?
This figure is 35 km (provisional): a schematic straight-line estimate between waypoints — not a measured walking distance; published figures are the better guide. See /guides/how-long-is-the-trail
Related trails
- Half Dome · United States
- John Muir Trail · United States
- The Wave (Coyote Buttes North) · United States