Zion Wilderness Permits and Canyoneering permits opened up again

Yvonne

I lava it!!!
Joined
Jan 19, 2012
Messages
4,098
Zion is getting back to normality.

A lot of wilderness permits are available again.
Backpacking permits are open again for reservation, including East and West Rim, La Verkin Creek, Southwest Desert. Only the Narrows overnight trips are still not open due to the highly toxic levels of cyanobacteria in the water.
There are no more walk-up backpacking permits until further future, all sites are reservable online.
I just reserved a permit for an overnighter in La Verkin Creek and the Southwest Desert for October.

All canyoneering permits where you do not need to swim in the Virgin River are open as well. This also includes the Subway bottom up. I snagged two permits for October and am waiting for November to open up. Canyons that are open are Jolley Gulch, Pine Creek Spry, Behunian, Telephone Canyon, Keyhole, Employee Canyon.

The wilderness desk is open from 8-4:30 pm at an outside window since no one is allowed inside the visitor center building.
 
I saw a group of six suited up going into Keyhole two weeks ago. I hadn't seen that permits had started up again. They were so "open and notorious" (The one phrase I remember vividly from a Business Law class I took decades ago.) that I assumed that they were legal.
 
I saw a group of six suited up going into Keyhole two weeks ago. I hadn't seen that permits had started up again. They were so "open and notorious" (The one phrase I remember vividly from a Business Law class I took decades ago.) that I assumed that they were legal.

They opened up permits, at least for backpacking, before advertising it on the NPS site. I made someone show me their overnight permit b/c it still said unavailable on the website. Citizen ranger :)

On a side note, I've never seen so much trash along the sides of the road along the E Rim, not to mention traffic and bogus "companion dogs" on the trails on Kolob Terrace. Talking to a friend at Zion Forever Project about organizing a clean-up event. Once confirmed will post here in case anyone is interested.
 
Last edited:
They opened up permits, at least for backpacking, before advertising it on the NPS site. I made someone show me their overnight permit b/c it still said unavailable on the website. Citizen ranger :)

On a side note, I've never seen so much trash along the sides of the road along the E Rim, not to mention traffic and bogus "companion dogs" on the trails on Kolob Terrace. Talking to a friend at Zion Forever Project about organizing a clean-up event. Once confirmed will post here in case anyone is interested.

the trash problem is totally getting out of control. On each of my hikes in the Zion Wilderness, I at least have a full bag of trash I've picked up along the way.
The park is the busiest as it has ever been. It's still as busy as mid-July with no end of sight. The park is almost at its limits of what I can take. Springdale is Zoo, the drive from and to work each day is a hassle.

When I went and did the Subway on October 1, I had the wonderful experience to have it all to myself the entire day. This will probably never again.
All backcountry sites are open now but The Narrows and all Canyoneering trips where you do not have a lot of swims are open as well.
And permits go fast almost every month.
I'm glad I picked some up for the end of November. I probably have to bring extra trash bags so I can clean up the trails on my hike out
 
I saw a group of six suited up going into Keyhole two weeks ago. I hadn't seen that permits had started up again. They were so "open and notorious" (The one phrase I remember vividly from a Business Law class I took decades ago.) that I assumed that they were legal.

Keyhole was already open two weeks ago, all canyon permits opened up by September 20th.
 
the trash problem is totally getting out of control. On each of my hikes in the Zion Wilderness, I at least have a full bag of trash I've picked up along the way.
The park is the busiest as it has ever been. It's still as busy as mid-July with no end of sight. The park is almost at its limits of what I can take. Springdale is Zoo, the drive from and to work each day is a hassle.


Fortunately I didn't run into much trash but I could have cried with how the walls of the narrow areas of Clear Creek were scratched up. I blamed it on too easy access for the blue moon tourist. I tried to take heart that it seemed like rock scratching instead of markers. So spontaneous ignorance!
 
The park is the busiest as it has ever been. It's still as busy as mid-July with no end of sight. The park is almost at its limits of what I can take. Springdale is Zoo, the drive from and to work each day is a hassle.

There were ~100 cars lined up for the tunnel when I finished my Gifford Canyon/peaks hike on Saturday. I ended up going the Mt. Carmel Jxn/Cane Beds cut-off way home. I doubt it would have been faster to wait for the tunnel.
 
There were ~100 cars lined up for the tunnel when I finished my Gifford Canyon/peaks hike on Saturday. I ended up going the Mt. Carmel Jxn/Cane Beds cut-off way home. I doubt it would have been faster to wait for the tunnel.
that's awful!!!
I hope it soon slows down. Actually today at the VC it was pretty mellow, we had times with no one in line.
I guess the cold helped a little bit.

I'm heading out to the Eastside for the first time after my accident this weekend and might even switch it to mid-week. So darn crazy what going on.
We got the numbers in for September and it was the busiest September ever with almost 600,000 visitors
 
There were ~100 cars lined up for the tunnel when I finished my Gifford Canyon/peaks hike on Saturday. I ended up going the Mt. Carmel Jxn/Cane Beds cut-off way home. I doubt it would have been faster to wait for the tunnel.
just curious...did you see any folks up gifford?
 
just curious...did you see any folks up gifford?

No (I was on the Gifford Peak side mainly). There were, however, a pair of obnoxious helicopters flying low over canyon. Unclear whose they were; they were white, not the tour operator's black ones.
 
Last edited:
No (I was on the Gifford Peak side mainly). There were, however, a pair of obnoxious helicopters flying low over canyon. Unclear whose they were; they were white, not the tour operator's black ones.
That's good. If you were on the Jenny side, you'd be in trouble ;)
 
Similar threads
Thread starter Title Forum Replies Date
TrailScot Day hike in the Upper East Side of Zion - October 2023 Hiking & Camping 5
TrailScot Public bus from St George to Zion NP in 2024 General Discussion 7
Bob Zion Fees UP Trip Planning 14
fossana New Zion NP advisory for toxic cyanobacteria 11.08.2023 General Discussion 6
zionsky Roaming around Zion Fall 2022 Hiking & Camping 4
canadug Hiker death in Zion National park :( Hiking & Camping 32
Ellen Zion West Rim Trail, December 2022 Trip Planning 3
zionsky Flash Flood in Zion General Discussion 3
TrailScot Zion backpacking permit changes General Discussion 3
G Dispersed camping near Zion? Trip Planning 5
G Zion trail report please Trip Planning 6
G Zion (half) traverse in April '21? Trip Planning 31
zionsky November in Zion Hiking & Camping 8
chandlerwest Zion Nat'l Park - October Adventures 2020 Hiking & Camping 16
zionsky Vandalism in Zion General Discussion 4
zionsky Zion to Resume Shuttles July 1 General Discussion 2
Yvonne Hiking Connector Trail to Northgate Peaks on Zion Opening Day, May 13 Hiking & Camping 8
wabenho Zion Front-country - Nov. 2019 Hiking & Camping 5
Yvonne A misty Thanksgiving Hike, Zion NP Hiking & Camping 11
fossana 24 Aug rockfall and E Rim trail closure in Zion (again) General Discussion 3
fossana Eastern Sun Canyon to the Narrows (Zion NP) Canyoneering 4
chandlerwest Zion - West Rim Loop...........in July???? Hiking & Camping 7
zionsky Fatality in Zion National Park General Discussion 1
zionsky Zion Scrambles March 2019 Day 4 Hiking & Camping 5
zionsky Zion Scrambles March 2019 Day 3 Hiking & Camping 4
zionsky Zion Scrambles March 2019 Day 2 Hiking & Camping 2
chandlerwest Continuing Adventures in Eastern Zion National Park Hiking & Camping 31
zionsky Zion Scrambles March 2019 Day 1 Hiking & Camping 2
M Zion West Rim Trail, Early April 2019 Trip Planning 40
I Zion-South Utah Spring Break - March 9th-March 14th Trip Planning 15
C Route 9 Through Zion closed indefinitely. General Discussion 25
zionsky Snowshoe Rental in Zion Gear 2
fossana Kolob Canyons (Zion NP) still closed for road construction Trip Planning 2
Yvonne Snowshoeing Northgate Peaks, Zion NP, December 2018 Winter Sports 10
J Zion Traverse in early December Trip Planning 19
D Zion NP in the winter Trip Planning 7
fossana PSA: Zion NP off-limit Research Natural Areas General Discussion 24
Jammer Zion to Arches Hike Backpacking 26
chandlerwest Just Some Drainage in the East side of Zion Nat'l Park Hiking & Camping 9
fossana Destination Peak plus (Zion NP) Hiking & Camping 2
fossana South Guardian Angel (Zion NP, UT) Hiking & Camping 3
J Zion National Park Trails and scrambles Nov 9-12, 2017 Hiking & Camping 6
Rockskipper Zion National Park visitors rescued after mocking rangers, hiking The Subway unprepared General Discussion 97
Nick Invite Zion Canyoneering 5/5 Meet Up (Members Only) 1
Mike Jones Big Sur or Zion Next Week? Trip Planning 20
LarryBoy A week in Zion... Advice needed! Trip Planning 7
C Invite Trans Zion Trek April 11-14 Meet Up (Members Only) 2
Outdoors24 Zion West Rim Trail in winter Trip Planning 6
J Camping outside East entrance of Zion NP General Discussion 2
OCArch Zion Blitz- A Quick 3 days Oct 11-14 Backpacking 6

Similar threads

Back
Top