# PermitPulse — Boundary Waters permit alerts > Real-time alerts for scarce national park and wilderness permits. (iPhone/iPad app by Michael Goodwin.) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/permitpulse/id6773133772 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [Michael Goodwin](https://appshunter.io/developer/6773133774) - Category: Travel, Utilities - Price: Free with in-app purchases - Rating: 4.00/5 from 4 App Store ratings · 3 written reviews indexed - Age rating: 4+ - Requires: iOS 13.0 · 24 MB - Languages: American English - Released: 2026-07-02 - Data updated: 2026-08-22 - Monetization: free with in-app purchases - User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/permitpulse/id6773133772/reviews.md ## What is 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 ## Key features - 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 ## Pricing and in-app purchases Base price: Free. **One-time purchases** | Purchase | Price | Type | | --- | --- | --- | | 10 Tokens | $0.99 | one-time | | 20 Tokens | $1.99 | one-time | | 60 Tokens | $4.99 | one-time | | 120 Tokens | $8.99 | one-time | ## Recent user reviews (3 of 3) All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/permitpulse/id6773133772/reviews.md ### 5/5 — Glad we found this. *2026-08-11* Great app. I found it easy to use and very helpful. ### 5/5 — Super helpful for BWCAW permits! *2026-08-11* 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! ### 1/5 — Incomplete, poorly developed, not yet useful *2026-08-06* 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. **Developer response:** 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. ## Frequently asked questions about PermitPulse ### 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. ## Version history (last 4 releases) ### 1.1.8 — 2026-08-08 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. ### 1.1.7 — 2026-08-05 Two new parks! Rocky Mountain National Park and Great Smoky Mountains backcountry permits now join the Boundary Waters. • Choose your park when creating a watch, then pick a starting area, group size and campsites. • Dark mode — switch themes from your Profile. • Park labels on every watch so you can tell them apart at a glance. • Entry points now show their code, e.g. "Moose Lake (EP 25)". • PermitPulse now warns you if notifications are switched off. ### 1.0.3 — 2026-07-10 Entry point numbers now included alongside the entry point name. ### 1.0 — 2026-07-02 No release notes. ## Apps similar to PermitPulse | App | Rating | Price | Category | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [Island: GO! - Driver app](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/island-go-driver-app/id6473724046) | 4.7 (12) | Free | Travel | | [Park Duluth](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/park-duluth/id1293357254) | 4.4 (289) | Free | Travel | | [Island: GO! 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