Half Dome Cables Open May 24 to October 15: How to Win the 2026 Lottery

The National Park Service confirmed the Half Dome cables 2026 season will run from late May through mid-October, with rangers targeting Friday, May 22 for installation and Tuesday, October 13 for takedown, though earlier reporting cited a Memorial Day weekend to Columbus Day window. The preseason lottery on Recreation.gov opened March 1 and closed March 31, with winners notified in mid-April and given until April 24 to accept. For students who missed that window, the daily lottery is now the only path onto the sub-dome, and it opens exactly two days before each hike date. Permits cost $10 per application plus $10 per selected hiker.

What the 2026 cable season looks like

Rangers install the two steel cables that run up the final 400 vertical feet of Half Dome each spring once snow and ice clear. For 2026, park staff have targeted May 22 as the up date and October 13 as the down date, according to permit guides tracking the Recreation.gov listing. Historically the cables go up around Memorial Day weekend (May 24) and come down around Columbus Day (October 15), so both windows are consistent. Wet years can delay installation by a week or more without notice.

How the Half Dome preseason lottery worked

The preseason lottery for the 2026 Half Dome cables ran from March 1 to March 31 on Recreation.gov. Applicants paid a non-refundable $10 application fee and could request up to seven dates and six people per application. Yosemite released results in mid-April, with winners notified around April 11 and required to accept by April 24. Selected hikers were then billed the recreation fee of $10 per person. Roughly 225 day-hiker permits are issued per day across both lotteries combined.

Daily lottery: the only remaining path

If you did not win in March, the daily lottery is how college groups still get on the cables this summer. Applications open at midnight Pacific two days before your target hike date and close at 1 p.m. Pacific the same day. Results email out that evening around 6 p.m. Pacific, and awarded permits again trigger the $10-per-person recreation fee automatically. Weekday dates in September and early October offer noticeably better odds than July and August weekends. Every applicant needs a free Recreation.gov account before midnight rolls around.

Why this matters for student hikers

Half Dome is one of the few permit-controlled bucket-list hikes accessible on a college budget: the round-trip from Happy Isles is 14 to 16 miles with 4,800 feet of gain, doable in a long day if you start before dawn. The cables season overlaps almost perfectly with summer break and early fall semester, which is why campus outdoor clubs at Berkeley, Stanford, Davis, and UCLA rush the daily lottery each June. Total per-person cost stays under $25 when you include the application and recreation fees, before gas and camping. Group leaders should confirm every hiker carries a photo ID matching the permit and a headlamp for the pre-sunrise start.

How to prepare between now and your hike date

Book a campsite or lodging first, because Yosemite Valley fills faster than the cables lottery does. Train with weighted stair repeats or a loaded pack on any 8-plus-mile trail; the sub-dome switchbacks and the cables are the crux, not the mileage. Buy or borrow leather work gloves and pack three liters of water minimum. Check the Yosemite conditions page the night before, since afternoon thunderstorms shut the cables down and rangers turn hikers back. Start at the trailhead by 4 a.m. to finish before storm cells build.

Key Takeaways

• Cables target dates: up May 22, 2026; down October 13, 2026, with historical Memorial Day to Columbus Day framing still in play.
• Preseason lottery closed March 31; daily lottery on Recreation.gov is now the only entry point.
• Daily lottery opens two days before each hike, closes 1 p.m. Pacific, results by 6 p.m. Pacific.
• Fees: $10 non-refundable application plus $10 per selected hiker.
• Weekday September dates carry the best odds for student groups.

What's Next

The next daily lottery windows open every 24 hours through October 11, 2026, since that is the last date you can apply for a hike before takedown. Watch the official Half Dome permits page on nps.gov/yose and the Recreation.gov listing at recreation.gov/permits/234652 for any weather-driven closures, and set a Recreation.gov account alert so you get the results email the same evening. Campus outdoor clubs planning a fall trip should target the September 22 to October 9 window for the best combination of weather, daylight, and lottery odds.