How this works
79 national forests list a 2026 Christmas tree permit on Recreation.gov, and 65 Bureau of Land Management offices list one in BLM's permit store. We read both on Nov 12, 2026 and print what they say: the dates, the price, the limit and the rules, each with its source. Sale times are in each place's own time zone. Recreation.gov prints them in Eastern, and we convert. A permit is the agency's to sell, and the rules on it are the agency's. We quote them and link them. We don't sell permits, and nothing here is one.
2 forests have pages on Recreation.gov with no permit type named and no dates on them. We print what the page says and no date. 53 more Forest Service units and 50 BLM field offices don't list a permit in either store. We say "not posted yet" for those, never "no program": some sell at the office and never post one online. Distances are straight lines to a forest's boundary, not to the cutting area and not by road. The forest's own map shows where you can cut. How we read the agencies · Not a permit, not the agency
Read from the agencies Nov 12, 2026
California Christmas tree permits 15 places have a permit online
13 national forests and 2 BLM offices in California list a 2026 Christmas tree permit online, and 13 sell one today. Of the prices printed here, the lowest is $5, at 2 places. Mendocino National Forest opens next: Nov 14, 7 a.m. Pacific. All 15 publish their own cutting-area maps.
- Inyo National ForestOn sale nowNov 12 to Dec 31cutting daysOn the permit pageRecreation.gov's records disagree
- Lassen National ForestOn sale nowNov 1 to Dec 24cutting daysOn the permit pageRecreation.gov's records disagree
- Stanislaus National ForestOn sale nowNov 27 to Dec 31cutting daysOn the permit pageRecreation.gov's records disagree
Not posted yet
- Angeles National ForestNot posted yet
- Butte Valley National GrasslandNot posted yet
- Cleveland National ForestNot posted yet
- Lake Tahoe Basin Management UnitNot posted yet
- Los Padres National ForestNot posted yet
- San Bernardino National ForestNot posted yet
- Sequoia National ForestNo dates on its page yet
- Sierra National ForestNot posted yet
Good to know in California
In Alpine County, the Hope Valley side of Highway 88 means Wolf Creek and Silver Creek, and creek crossings that freeze.
From Sierra Rec Magazine, "November means Christmas Tree Permit Season in the Sierra" (author's family, 18 years in Alpine County), read Nov 11, 2026.
The Tahoe's Sierraville district once sold 400 permits in four days, in 2016.
From CBS Sacramento (Nov 29, 2016), read Nov 11, 2026.