Angels Landing: every lottery date
The permit has a fearsome reputation and the park issues more than two hundred thousand of them a year. Knowing the calendar matters far more than luck.
- Application fee
- $6, non refundable
- If you win
- $3 per person
- Max party
- 6 people per application
- Applications allowed
- Exactly one
Two lotteries, and most people only know about one
A permit is required for the final section of Angels Landing, the chains along the spine. Everyone in your group needs one and there is no way to buy your way past it.
There are two separate lotteries. The seasonal lottery runs four times a year and covers a three month block of hiking dates, applied for months ahead. The day before lottery runs every single day for the following day’s hikes.
People fixate on the seasonal one, miss the window, and assume they have lost their chance. They have not. The day before draw exists precisely for them, and the park issues more than 200,000 permits a year across both.
The rule that disqualifies people every season
One application per person. Submit more than one and every application you made is cancelled, with no refunds. Couples and families sometimes try to improve their odds by each applying separately for the same group. Read the rule carefully before you do that, because getting it wrong costs you the season.
All four 2026 seasonal lotteries
Applications open two months before each three month hiking block. You choose your preferred hiking dates, rank them, and results land on a fixed day.
| Season | Apply between | Permits issued | Covers hikes on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spring | Feb 13 to Feb 25 | Feb 26 | Mar 1 to May 31 |
| Summer | Apr 1 to Apr 20 | Apr 25 | Jun 1 to Aug 31 |
| Fall | Jul 1 to Jul 20 | Jul 25 | Sep 1 to Nov 30 |
| Winter | Oct 1 to Oct 20 | Oct 25 | Dec 1 to Feb 28, 2027 |
If you are reading this in September, the winter lottery opens on October 1 and it is the only seasonal draw still ahead of you this year.
Source: National Park Service 2026 Angels Landing lottery dates. The pattern repeats annually but the exact days shift, so confirm before building a trip around them.
The day before draw, which is the real second chance
- From 12:01am MTApplications open
Two days out, for hikes the day after next. You do not need to be awake at midnight. The window is long.
- 3:00pm MTApplications close
Hard deadline. Miss it and you are applying for the following day instead.
- 4:00pm MTResults
Permits are issued by four. You find out the afternoon before you would hike, which is late but workable if you are already in Springdale.
The practical consequence is worth planning around. If Angels Landing matters to you and you did not win a seasonal permit, build a trip with several flexible days in it and enter the day before lottery on each of them. Your odds compound across attempts in a way a single seasonal application never does.
It also means you should have a second plan for each morning, because you will not know until 4pm the previous afternoon. The Narrows needs no permit at all and makes an excellent alternative.
What actually improves your chances
The park does not publish success rates, and anyone quoting you a precise percentage is guessing. These are the levers that genuinely exist.
Rank every date you can make
The application lets you rank multiple preferred dates. People often enter one or two and wonder why they lost. Every additional date you could genuinely travel for is another chance inside the same application, at no extra cost.
Avoid Saturdays
Weekends draw the most applications. A Tuesday in the same week is the same hike with less competition, and a quieter trail when you get there.
Come outside the peaks
April, May, September and October are the busiest months in the park and the hardest permits to win. Early June and late November are pleasant and far less contested.
Build the trip around the lottery, not the other way round
This is the single most common Zion planning mistake. People book flights and lodging, then discover the seasonal lottery for their dates closed weeks before they started looking. The permit calendar does not care when you decided to come. If the chains matter to you, work backwards from the table above. See the planning guide for how it fits with everything else.
Can a guide get you up there
What a guide can do
YesAngels Landing is on the park’s authorized list for commercially guided hiking, which surprises most people. Guided parties are capped at six people plus one guide, and no more than two such parties at a time.
A good guide is genuinely useful here: pacing, where to pass on the chains, and an honest read on whether your group should be doing it at all.
What a guide cannot do
PermitsHiring a guide does not get you a permit and does not get you around one. Every person in the group still needs their own, won through the same lotteries as everybody else.
If an operator implies otherwise, that is the moment to stop and ask a direct question. See the outfitter directory for how the authorization system works.
What you are signing up for
The permit is the admin. This is the part that decides whether you should go.
The trail starts at The Grotto, shuttle stop 6, which is the busiest stop in the canyon precisely because of this hike. It climbs steadily, switchbacks hard up Walter’s Wiggles, and reaches Scout Lookout. Everything to that point is a strenuous but ordinary trail and needs no permit.
The permit covers what comes after: a half mile along a fin of rock with chains bolted into it and long drops on both sides. It is not technical and it is not a climb. It is exposed, and exposure is a thing people discover about themselves in the moment rather than in advance.
Scout Lookout is a genuinely good destination on its own. The view is most of the view. If you get there and the spine does not appeal, turning around is not a failure, and plenty of people who hold permits do exactly that.
Two practical things
Start early. The Grotto fills with permit holders from the first shuttle at 7:00am, the chains bottleneck when busy, and the exposed sections are miserable in afternoon heat. See the shuttle page for the season by season first departures.
And check the forecast properly. The chains are no place to be in wind, rain or lightning, and the park closes the section when conditions warrant.
Common questions about the Angels Landing permit
Do I need a permit for Angels Landing?
Yes, for the final chained section along the spine. Everyone in your party needs one. The trail as far as Scout Lookout, which is most of the climb and most of the view, needs no permit at all.
How much does an Angels Landing permit cost?
A $6 non-refundable application fee, plus $3 per person if you are issued a permit.
How many people can be on one application?
Up to six, including the applicant.
Can I submit more than one application to improve my odds?
No. One application per person. If you submit more than one, all of your applications are cancelled and there are no refunds.
When are the 2026 lottery dates?
Spring applications ran Feb 13 to 25, summer Apr 1 to 20, fall Jul 1 to 20, and winter Oct 1 to 20 covering hikes from Dec 1 to Feb 28, 2027. Permits are issued on the 26th or 25th of the application month.
What if I miss the seasonal lottery?
Enter the day before lottery, which runs daily. Applications open at 12:01am Mountain Time, close at 3:00pm, and permits are issued by 4:00pm for the following day.
Can a guide take me up Angels Landing?
Yes. It is on the park's authorized list for guided hiking, capped at six people plus one guide with no more than two parties at a time. But every person still needs their own permit. A guide does not provide one.
Is Angels Landing dangerous?
The chained section is exposed with long drops on both sides. It is not technical climbing, but people have died there. If you are unsure about heights, Scout Lookout is a legitimate destination and turning around there is a sensible decision rather than a failed hike.
Get the calendar right and the rest follows
The lottery dates are the fixed points in a Zion trip. Build the days around them.
Also useful: the shuttle, The Narrows conditions, and the best time to visit.
Winter lottery covers hikes from December 1. Applications open October 1.
Plan your trip