News Release

Zion Angels Landing Pilot Permit Program enters its second year

Angels Landing Pilot Permit Program ranger at Scout Lookout in Zion National Park.

NPS / Ally O'Rullian

News Release Date: April 7, 2023

Contact: Jonathan Shafer, [phone]

SPRINGDALE, Utah – Zion National Park is looking back on a successful year of issuing permits for hikers to visit Angels Landing.

Fast facts about the Angels Landing Pilot Permit Program

Since the pilot program began on April 1, 2022:

• Zion has issued over 210,000 permits to hikers.

• The average group size was 2.3 hikers.
• Hikers’ start times are more evenly distributed throughout the day.
• Rangers observed, and hikers reported, less crowding and congestion on the trail than in past years.
• The Angels Landing Pilot Permit Program accommodated about 80% of the hiker use the National Park Service recorded in studies conducted in 2019 and 2021.
   

2023 Summer Seasonal Lottery
Planning a visit to Zion National Park this summer? Until 11:59 p.m. MT on April 20, you can apply for a permit to hike Angels Landing between June 1 and August 31. Learn how at go.nps.gov/AngelsLanding.

Improve your application
After one year of reviewing data, we want to share information that will improve your application. The park’s ranked-choice application system allows you to pick the days, times, and number of hikers that work best for your group.

When you apply, remember to:

• Fill out the entire application to take advantage of the ranked-choice application system. 

  • Pick multiple hike start times and/or days that work best for your group.
• Select different group sizes if the number of hikers would change on different dates or at different start times.
• Be mindful of schedules for both Seasonal Lotteries (which happen quarterly) and Day-before Lotteries (open 12:01 a.m. to 3 p.m. MT the day-before your planned hike).
  • Read more at go.nps.gov/AngelsLanding

Zion is using the experience gained managing the pilot permit program to inform a park-wide visitor use planning effort. The National Park Service will ask for public comments on a draft plan so that visitors continue to enjoy the landscapes, plants, animals, and history that define this special place long into the future.
 

Public domain photos and b-roll (including video of park rangers answering questions) are online.