PermitPulse

PermitPulse

Boundary Waters permit alerts

4 ratings
3 reviews
Free
In-App Purchases

Details

  • Released
  • Updated
  • July 2, 2026
  • August 8, 2026

Features

PermitPulse screenshot #1 for iPhone
PermitPulse screenshot #2 for iPhone
PermitPulse screenshot #3 for iPhone
iphone
ipad
🖼️Get Icon
Icons↘︎

About

This app monitors recreation.gov for available permits for popular national parks and wilderness areas. It sends instant push notifications and emails when a desired permit becomes available, helping you secure reservations.

Real-time permit availability monitoring
Push and email notifications
Supports Boundary Waters, Rocky Mountain NP, Great Smoky Mountains NP
Customizable date and entry point selection
Daily reminders for open permits
Dark mode
Show original description

What's New in PermitPulse

1.1.8

August 8, 2026

Better alerts for Rocky Mountain and Great Smoky Mountains. Those permits reserve a campsite for every night of your trip, so PermitPulse now only alerts when every night in your date range is open — not when a single night frees up. Availability shows how many nights are covered instead of a campsite list. Boundary Waters alerts are unchanged.

More
4

In-App Purchases

$0.99

10 Tokens

10 tokens to create permit availability watches

User reviews

Glad we found this.

Great app. I found it easy to use and very helpful.

Super helpful for BWCAW permits!

Helped me find a permit after the fires had everything closed for a few weeks. Hope to use this next summer for a Mudro entry!

Incomplete, poorly developed, not yet useful

I like the idea, but doesn’t yet have enough functionality to be baseline viable, and development seems quite poorly done. Can’t configure notifications for common scenarios such as multiple people in your group. Settings that *are* present aren’t logically correct, e.g., if you set a notification for a three-day window, you’ll get alerts for single-day openings in that window, instead of when the full window becomes available. Beyond that, a “freemium” model where you only get one free usage (setting one “watch”) before you have to pay…yeah, no.
Show more

Response from developer

Thanks for the detailed write-up. You found a logic flaw in how I was handling multi-night windows, and that’s now fixed with version 1.1.8. BWCA is a little different from RMNP and GSMNP. A BWCA permit is for an entry date, not individual campsites, so a three-day window means three possible entry dates. If one opens, that’s a valid trip, so the full window doesn’t need to be available. RMNP and GSMNP are night-by-night reservations, so alerts for those parks now only fire when every night in the window is available. That change went live today. Group size doesn’t affect BWCA availability because the quota is one permit per group, whether that’s one person or nine. Group size does matter for RMNP and GSMNP, where the quota is per person, that filtering has been supported there from the start. And on pricing: one free watch, then 10 tokens for $1, with no subscription or recurring charges. Fair if you don’t like it, but I try to keep it pretty simple and upfront. Thanks again for taking the time to test it and point out the issue. Feedback like this is genuinely useful.

FAQ

Does PermitPulse have ads?

No, PermitPulse is ad-free. It focuses on providing timely alerts without interruptions from advertisements.

How much does PermitPulse cost?

PermitPulse is free to download and use. Your first permit watch is free, and subsequent watches are purchased using tokens, with no recurring subscriptions.

What parks does PermitPulse cover?

PermitPulse covers permits for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, Rocky Mountain National Park, and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

How often does PermitPulse check for permits?

PermitPulse checks recreation.gov every five minutes, around the clock, to ensure you get the most up-to-date availability information.

Can PermitPulse book permits for me?

No, PermitPulse is not affiliated with recreation.gov or any park service. It alerts you when permits are available, but you must book them yourself on recreation.gov.

What devices does PermitPulse support?

PermitPulse is available on iPhone, iPad, and iPod, indicated by its support for iOS devices.

How is PermitPulse updated?

The app was last updated on August 8, 2026, to version 1.1.8, suggesting regular maintenance and feature additions by the developer.

What is the age rating for PermitPulse?

PermitPulse has an age rating of 4+, making it suitable for a wide range of users, including families.