Zion Permit Requirements: Angels Landing, The Subway, Backpacking + More
While Zion doesn’t have any timed-entry vehicle reservations, they do have some rather perplexing permit requirements. Not only can Zion permits be elusive, but the system for how the lottery works is unnecessarily complex and confusing.
In this article I’m breaking down how to get permits for Zion hikes, like Angels Landing and The Subway, as well as tips for making sure you can snag one of the coveted lottery permits for your next trip.
Reservations and Zion Permits
There are no reservations required to enter Zion National Park. If you’re traveling during spring, summer or fall you’ll have to ride the shuttle as Zion Canyon Scenic Road is not open to private vehicles during the busy season. There are no reservations required to use the free shuttle.
However, there are advanced permits required for a few activities within the park, like hiking Angels Landing and The Subway, and for activities like camping, backpacking and canyoneering. Let’s talk about it.
Angels Landing Permit
This is a very popular hike. It’s so popular, in fact, that in 2022 the park started requiring timed permits due to safety concerns on the narrow chains section which is surrounded by a several hundred foot drop-off.
Angels Landing trail picks up just after Scouts Lookout. You can hike to Scouts Lookout without a permit. The section that requires a permit is the chains section, which is the last bit of trail along the precarious ledges.
The trail itself is not overly dangerous, however, with mobs of people on a very limited walkway it can be far more risky. Because of this, there’s a permit system to limit how many people are on the chains section at one time.
I obtained a permit to hiked Angels Landing and it was still fairly crowded, especially on some of the high ledges. As inconvenient as it is, I’m grateful there are some crowd control efforts underway because this is literally one of the most dangerous hikes in America.
There are two ways to get a permit to hike Angels Landing: the seasonal lottery and the day-before lottery. The day-before lottery is straightforward, so let’s start with that one.
Day-Before Lottery For Angels Landing
The day prior to your hike you can enter the day before lottery on recreation.gov between 12:01 am and 3:00 pm MT. It doesn’t matter when during that time period you submit your lottery request – 12:01 am isn’t going to give you a better chance than 3 pm, so don’t set your midnight alarm unnecessarily.
After the lottery closes at 3:00 pm MT the park rangers decide how many permits they can safely release for the next day (usually based on current park conditions and cancellations). An email is sent at 4:00 pm MT the day before your planned hike to let you know whether or not you’ve been issued a permit.
When I participated in the day-before lottery for Angels Landing I had to try a few days in a row before I was finally issued a permit. In my experience, selecting the earliest time possible gives you a better chance of being granted a permit. And yup – there was a ranger at the trailhead checking permits and IDs the next morning.
You can apply for the day-before Angels Landing Zion permit with up to 6 people (yourself included). The cost to apply is $6 total, non-refundable. If you are awarded a permit, you’ll be charged an additional non-refundable $3 per person.
Seasonal Lottery Permits For Angels Landing
But what about the seasonal lottery? If you’re better at planning ahead than I am then this is the best route for you. Unfortunately, the National Park Services has made this a bit confusing.
Seasonal lottery reservations for a 3 month window of time are released two+ months in advance. The lottery always opens on the 1st of the month and stays open through the 20th.
After, the lottery winners are determined on the 25th of the month and notifications are released to everyone who applied letting them know the results.
Let me give an example to help clarify.
If you want to hike Angels Landing on your upcoming trip in July, you will need to submit a seasonal lottery application on the recreation.gov website between April 1 and April 20. On April 25 you will know whether you are awarded a permit for Angels Landing.
If you are not awarded a seasonal lottery permit, then your next option is to try for the day-before lottery. I recommend submitting a day-before lottery starting the day prior to arriving at Zion, and resubmitting every day after that until you are awarded a permit. This was my strategy and it took 3-4 days before we won the lottery.
Lottery drawings are done in January (for March-May permits), April (for June-August permits), July (for September-November permits), and October (for trips to Zion in December through February permits).
Use this table to determine when the open lottery dates are for your upcoming trip.
| Trip Date | Lottery Opens | Lottery Closes | Lottery Announced |
|---|---|---|---|
| December-February | October 1 | October 20 | October 25 |
| March-May | January 1 | January 20 | January 25 |
| June-August | April 1 | April 20 | April 25 |
| September-November | July 1 | July 20 | July 25 |
When you submit your permit request, you’ll be asked to select up to 7 dates and times that you are available to hike Angels Landing. I recommend selecting as many that work for you as possible – the more fishing lines you have in the lake, the more likely you are to catch a fish.
You can apply for the seasonal Angels Landing Zion permit with up to 6 people (yourself included) in the lottery. The cost to apply is $6 total, non-refundable. If you are awarded a permit, you’ll be charged an additional $3 per person (refundable up to 2 days ahead of your hike date).
How To Apply For An Angels Landing Permit
I mentioned that the system is complex, and the dates are unnecessarily confusing. That’s not the only weird part about these Zion permits though. The website links are set up based on season, not lottery type.
That means if you’re applying for the seasonal lottery in the summer, you’ll just click the summer link below. Easy.
However, if you’re applying for the day-before permit you’ll have to click the link below for the current season. The content on the webpages changes between seasonal and day-before permits depending on the calendar.
Angels Landing Lottery Applications On Recreation.gov:
- Spring (Hikes on March 1 – May 31)
- Summer (Hikes on June 1 – August 31)
- Fall (Hikes on September 1 – November 30)
- Winter (Hikes on December 1 – February 28)
Left Fork / The Subway Permit In Zion
The Subway is a popular hiking trail for more experienced hikers. Because this hike is located in the Wilderness area of the park and requires extensive route-finding skills a permit is always required. If you have 2 days in Zion National Park I highly recommend trying to add this to your itinerary.
There are two types of lotteries: seasonal and daily.
There are also two permit routes: one for hiking bottom-up, and one for canyoneering top-down.
Seasonal Lottery Permits For The Subway (Left Fork)
You can submit your permit application up to 4 months in advance (see table below), and with up to 4 choices of dates. Unfortunately, you may only submit one request per individual, per canyon, per season.
The fee to apply for the lottery is $6 per submission, and is non-refundable.
The seasonal lottery opens on the 1st of the month, and closes on the 25th. Email notifications are sent to all lottery participants on the 27th of the month letting them know the results.
If you are awarded a permit you must log in to recreation.gov within 2 weeks to claim the permit.
| Trip Season | Lottery Opens | Lottery Closes | Lottery Announced |
|---|---|---|---|
| January-March | November 1 | November 25 | November 27 |
| April-June | February 1 | February 25 | February 27 |
| July-September | May 1 | May 25 | May 27 |
| October-December | August 1 | August 25 | August 27 |
The Subway Seasonal Lottery Applications On Recreation.gov:
Daily Lottery For The Subway
If you weren’t able to get a permit during the seasonal lottery, then your next best bet is the daily lottery.
You can submit applications for the daily lottery two days in advance of your trip date. The lottery us open from 12:00 am MT to 3:00 pm MT. You have equal chances of winning no matter when in this time period you apply – early doesn’t guarantee you’ll win. At 3pm, the lottery closes and the winners are drawn.
All lottery applicants are notified by email with information about the status of their request by 4:00 pm MT.
The fee for the daily lottery is $6.00 per submission, and is non-refundable.
The Subway Daily Lottery Applications On Recreation.gov:
Zion Narrows Permit
There are two ways to hike The Narrows: Top-down, and Bottom-up.
Most people will hike bottom-up, and there is no permit required for this.
However, if you choose to hike top-down, the route is more challenging and does require a permit.
There are several permit options for top-down hiking The Narrows:
The advanced lottery schedule follows the same dates (table above) as The Subway lottery.
Camping Permits In Zion
There are 3 campgrounds in Zion National Park: Watchman, South and Lava Point.
The Watchman is conveniently located in the center of Zion Canyon and with several trails nearby and easy access to the Zion Shuttle. The campground requires advance reservations, which can be made 6 months in advance. Rates start at $35 per night.
South Campground is currently closed for long-term rehabilitation projects.
Lava Point is more remote, and takes about 1.5 hours to drive to Zion’s main entrance from the campground. It’s open from May through September and reservations are available in advance on a 2-week rolling window. Site fees start at $20 per night.
For additional places to stay near Zion, check out my Zion Travel Guide with more details.
Backpacking
All overnight backpacking trips in Zion National Park require a wilderness permit.
You can obtain permits two different ways. Advanced reservations can be made online. Permits become available at 10:00am MT on the 5th day of the month preceding your trip. For example, if you plan to backpack in March you’ll be able to make a reservation on February 5th.
The second way to obtain a permit is online the day prior. This is only available if backcountry campsites are still available and your request must be submitted by 5:00 pm the day before your trip. This is a much less likely way to get a permit, however, because typically campsites become fully reserved within minutes of reservations opening the month prior.
Canyoneering
Canyoneering requires a permit in Zion National Park. If this is something you’re interested in I recommend checking out the detailed Zion National Parks website for more information.
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