Tips on getting backcountry permit alerts at Yoho National Park

Last year, Campnab member Sohaib was frustrated with our app. It was his childhood dream to visit Lake O’Hara, but every opening he was alerted to was gone by the time he clicked through. He asked me, “I just received a notification and within seconds it’s red. How is it possible if I responded in literally 2 seconds?”

We want to know when something’s amiss

We went back and forth for a while, and Sohaib was pretty convinced he was receiving false alerts. I assured him this wasn’t the case, but he wasn’t so sure. The fact is that Lake O’Hara permits are in high demand, and even cancelled spots rebook within seconds. Additionally, the booking process for these availabilities is a bit weird, which further complicates matters.

Whenever a member has problems acting on an alert, I try to lend a hand. Should something seem amiss, I’ll set up a scan of my own, just to see if I can replicate their situation—and potentially suggest a fix or offer up some recommendations.

Running a test of my own

After a few days of testing, I was alerted to an opening, which was visible in the Frontcountry part of the booking system. (This is weird as Lake O’Hara is a backcountry camping area.) When I clicked through, the booking system showed that there were Restrictions on the availability:

When I attempted to reserve the permit, I was met by warning messages. The booking system indicated that I needed to select equipment and that the the selected option didn’t correspond to an actual campsite.

So, I selected the Backcountry Tab and chose Backcountry Zone from the options:

I also needed to choose an entry point (which in this situation was the bus type):

I was then offered booking details:

I was also able to confirm the reservation:

I didn’t complete this reservation as this was just a test. That said, it was good to see that everything was working as it should.

The big takeaway

In spite of how weird the process was, our alerts were definitely working. It’s just that Canada Parks shows Lake O’Hara permits as sites under the Frontcountry tab—but requires the reservation to be made under the Backcountry tab (and Backcountry Zone) area.

I recounted all of the above to Sohaib, and within a few days he did have a permit booked. He was happy that it all worked out in the long run, and I was glad that he’d be able to visit the place he’d been dreaming of since he was a child.

Custom ringtones are helpful

I’ve noted the following in many posts. I figure it deserves mentioning again though. The sooner you act on an alert the better—and some popular sites will take several tries before you get lucky.

One thing you might want to try is assigning a custom ringtone to our number. I find this helps me realize that I have to act quickly. Here’s how you can do this:

Android devices

1. Select the conversation from us (1-877-626-0108)

2. Tap the menu icon (three dots) in the top right

3. Tap Details

4. Tap Notifications

5. Tap Sound

6. Select a tone

7. Tap the back arrow, Save, or OK

iOS devices

1. Select the conversation from us (1-877-626-0108)

2. Tap the arrow (beside the phone number) to expand options

3. Tap info button

4. Tap Create new contact

5. (Optional) Type “Campnab Alerts” in the Company field

6. Scroll to Text Tone and tap

7. Select the Alert Tone you like

8. Tap Done (top-right corner)

9. Tap Done again

Also, add Campnab to your phone’s allow list: Folks sometimes cancel their reservations in the middle of the night. So, if you use do-not-disturb hours or focus mode on your phone, go to Allow Notifications and add Campnab. Acting quickly on those can give you a little edge.

Additional information on permit scanning

If you’re in need of a sold-out backcountry permit, read our article with tips for backcountry permit scanning. Looking for a river permit? This article on how to get alerts for river permit cancellations might answer your questions.

Photo courtesy of Andrew Darlington

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