Zion permit lottery opens

If you want to hike Angels Landing this summer, the clock is already running. Zion National Park has opened the seasonal lottery for permits covering hikes from June 1 through August 31, and the application window closes on April 20. Results are scheduled to go out on April 25. That is the main event here. For the most popular days in Zion’s busiest season, this lottery is not a nice extra. It is the system that decides who gets on the trail (nps.gov, recreation.gov, kpcw.org). That matters because Angels Landing is not just another scenic walk in Zion. It is the park’s signature hike, a steep five-mile round trip with more than 1,400 feet of climbing and a final half-mile along a narrow sandstone spine lined with chain handrails. The permit requirement applies only to that last exposed section, from Scout Lookout to the summit, but that is the part people come for. It is also the part that used to jam with long lines of hikers waiting to inch past one another above sheer drop-offs (nps.gov, abc4.com). The permit program exists because Zion finally stopped pretending that unlimited access and safety could coexist on that ridge. The National Park Service says the lottery was created to reduce congestion, protect resources, and improve the hike itself. Before permits, the end of the trail could bottleneck into a human traffic jam. Now the park says it issues more than 200,000 Angels Landing permits each year through a mix of advance and last-minute lotteries, spreading hikers across dates and start times instead of letting the trail turn into a queue over a cliff (nps.gov, nationalparkstraveler.org). The mechanics are simple, but only if you know them before you book the rest of your trip. The summer lottery allows one application per person, for up to six hikers total including the applicant. You can rank as many as seven dates or date ranges, along with preferred start-time windows. Applying costs $6 and that fee is nonrefundable. If you win, Recreation.gov automatically charges another $3 per person on the permit. You still have to pay Zion’s entrance fee unless you already have a federal recreation pass (recreation.gov, nps.gov). There is a fallback, but it is a backup plan, not a strategy for anyone who needs certainty. Zion also runs a day-before lottery, which opens at 12:01 a.m. Mountain Time and closes at 3 p.m. for the following day’s hikes, with results posted at 4 p.m. That system works for flexible travelers already in the area. It does not help much if you are trying to lock in a peak-season family trip, hotel stay, shuttle timing, and one specific canyon day months ahead (nps.gov, kpcw.org). And Zion is serious about enforcement. Permits are required 24 hours a day, seven days a week for any hike past Scout Lookout toward Angels Landing. Hiking that section without one is a violation of federal regulations and can bring a fine of up to $5,000, up to six months in jail, or both. Hikers need to carry the permit confirmation and show it to rangers on the trail. The summer lottery closes at 11:59 p.m. Mountain Time on April 20 (recreation.gov, recreation.gov).