How does the lottery work?
Why does Recreation.gov need lotteries?
Everyone deserves an equal opportunity to experience our National treasures! Our lottery system ensures a fair distribution process to provide access to popular recreation opportunities. Limiting the number of visitors through a lottery process helps preserve and protect our beloved locations, prevent damage to the natural landscape and enhance the experience.
How does a lottery work?
First, you need a Recreation.gov account to participate in a lottery. You can sign up clicking on the Sign Up/Log In button located in the header to create an account.
Second, most lotteries have an application fee to register for the lottery. The fee is charged to each applicant to help manage the lottery process, regardless of if they are selected for that lottery.
Third, be aware of when a lottery application period is opening for your activity. You can see the year-in-a-glance here for the various different lotteries, and be sure to monitor this page to find information about lotteries that are Coming Soon.
Finally, click on the "Enter Lottery" button and enter your application information to be in the running for your permit or ticket.
All applicants receive an email announcing the lottery results and indicating whether they were successful or not. If you aren't selected, please keep trying. If you are selected for the lottery, make sure to review all the details outlined in the email and follow any additional steps that are included in the award announcement. Also, check the "Need to Know" information on the lottery page prior to visiting the location.
How random is the lottery process?
Each lottery is randomized by shuffling all the applications using the Fisher-Yates Shuffle, which produces an unbiased and random ordering of results. We also use a Cryptographically Secure Pseudo Random Number Generator (CSPRNG) to prevent any inadvertent bias in the lottery process. These random number generators are vetted to produce random numbers that cannot be predicted based upon past outputs, and they don’t allow anyone to predict future or past numbers generated.
In the figure above, each row is an application, each column is the position the application was awarded in the lottery (from first on the left to one hundredth on the right), and the color in each cell indicating the number of lotteries that application row was awarded the column's position. That the plot shows approximately similar counts for each cell is indicative that the lottery is unbiased, as each application receives an award a similar number of times. The plot does not show the exact same color across all cells because the results occurring exactly the same way time after time is highly unlikely; therefore, a truly random outcome likely has each application getting the same position a varying number of times.
How can I learn more about lottery statistics?
If you're interested in learning more about lottery statistics, many, but not all, lotteries post this information after the lottery has closed. These statistics often include the total number of submitted applications and details about demand information for the number of applications submitted for specific entry dates, the number of applications received by state and country, and the breakdown of successful applicants by other various criteria.
Learn more about the Four Rivers Lottery and Permit Reservation System