Wilderness permits, and the desk you have to stand at
A handful of Zion trips need a permit that is nothing like the Angels Landing lottery. Different fees, different routes in, and one rule that surprises people: the trips that need these permits are the ones no guide is allowed to take you on.
- Overnight
- $20 plus $7 each
- Day use and canyons
- $6 plus $10 each
- Group size
- 12 maximum
- Collected
- In person, one desk
Most of Zion needs no permit at all
Worth saying first, because a lot of visitors assume the whole park is rationed. It is not. The permit system covers a specific and fairly short list.
| Trip | Permit | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Overnight backpacking | Required | Any night spent out in the wilderness, on any route. |
| Overnight climbing bivouacs | Required | Day climbs need nothing. Sleeping on the wall does. |
| The Narrows through hike | Required | Every top down trip from Chamberlain’s Ranch, whether you do it in a day or overnight. |
| Canyons needing rope and descending gear | Required | The technical canyons. If you are rappelling, you need one. |
| Left Fork of North Creek, The Subway | Required | Both routes, top down and bottom up, and it is day use only. |
| The Narrows from the bottom | None | Walking up from the Riverside Walk as far as Big Spring needs nothing at all. |
| Every day hike except one | None | Emerald Pools, Riverside Walk, Watchman, Canyon Overlook, Scout Lookout. All of them compared. |
| Angels Landing beyond Scout Lookout | Different system | A separate lottery with its own fees and calendar. How that one works. |
Group size is twelve, and it is a hard cap
Wilderness trails and canyons are limited to twelve people. A party of fourteen is two permits and two trips, not one large group with an understanding.
Two fees, and only one comes back
This structure catches people, because the smaller number is the one you lose and the larger one is the one you get back.
| Permit | Booking fee | Per person |
|---|---|---|
| Overnight, backpacking or bivouac | $20, not refunded | $7 per night, refundable |
| Day use, including canyoneering | $6, not refunded | $10, refundable |
So a party of four applying for a technical canyon pays $6 that is gone whatever happens, plus $40 that comes back if the trip does not go ahead. Two people on a two night backpack pay $20 that is gone and $28 that is not.
The practical consequence is that applying is cheap and failing to apply is the expensive mistake. Six dollars is a low price for a chance at a canyon, and the per person money is not really at risk.
Miss the lottery and there are still three ways
Most people try one route, fail, and give up. There are four, and the last two are barely used.
The seasonal lottery
An advance draw covering a whole season, entered on recreation.gov for a $6 application fee. This is the one everyone knows about and the one everyone loses. Enter it, but do not build the trip on it.
The daily lottery
A second draw that opens two days before the trip date, also $6. If you are already in the area with flexible days, entering this every morning is a far better strategy than one seasonal application, because the attempts compound.
Walk in spaces
Any trip not filled by reservation or lottery is available at the desk, the day before or the day of. This is the route almost nobody uses, and on shoulder season weekdays there is genuinely space.
And a fourth, which is the one nobody watches
Each permit’s own page on recreation.gov carries a calendar showing unclaimed and cancelled reservations. People cancel constantly. Checking that calendar repeatedly in the weeks before a trip is unglamorous and it works, and it is how a good many permits actually change hands.
Windows and dates move, and the park publishes them per route rather than as one calendar, so check the specific canyon or trip you want on recreation.gov rather than assuming a single system covers everything.
You have to stand at a desk
Winning a permit online is not the same as holding one. Every Zion wilderness permit is collected in person, and there are three rules around that which cost people trips.
- WhereThe Zion Canyon Visitor Center Wilderness Desk
All of them, without exception. The Kolob Canyons Wilderness Desk is closed until further notice, so even a trip starting an hour north on Kolob Terrace Road means collecting from the main canyon first.
- WhenThe day before, or the day of
Allow at least twenty minutes at the desk. On a busy morning that is optimistic, and you are trying to be at a trailhead.
- WhoThe named person, and nobody else
Permits are non transferable and the reservation holder has to collect in person. You cannot send a friend who is already in town, and a group cannot nominate whoever wakes first.
- What to bringYour vehicle details
Make, model and licence plate. Have them written down rather than walking back out to the car park to read your own number plate, which is a thing that happens every day.
Build the collection into the plan
Collecting the day before is almost always the better call. A dawn start plus a twenty minute queue plus a drive to a Kolob Terrace trailhead does not fit into a morning, and the desk is not open at the hour you want to be walking.
No guide can take you on any of these
This is the single most useful thing on the page, and it explains the whole permit system at once.
Commercial guiding is closed across Zion’s designated wilderness, and the permitted trips above are all in it. The park says so about The Subway in as few words as it is possible to use: paid guided trips are not permitted.
So the permit is not something an outfitter can supply, and there is no guided version of these trips to fall back on. If you want a technical canyon in Zion, you get your own permit and you go with your own party, which is why the walk in route above matters so much more than it looks.
What outfitters can legitimately sell you is instruction rather than a guided descent, and a vehicle shuttle to a remote trailhead. Both are genuinely useful and neither is a way around the rule. Guided canyoneering advertised near Zion runs on land outside the park boundary, on excellent rock, and the good operators say so plainly.
Common questions about Zion wilderness permits
What trips need a wilderness permit in Zion?
Overnight backpacking, overnight climbing bivouacs, all Virgin River Narrows through hikes, any canyon needing rope and descending gear, and the Left Fork of North Creek known as The Subway. The Narrows from the bottom and every other day hike need nothing.
How much is a Zion wilderness permit?
Overnight trips cost a $20 non refundable booking fee plus $7 per person per night, which is refundable. Day use including canyoneering costs a $6 non refundable fee plus $10 per person, also refundable.
Can I get a Zion permit at the last minute?
Often, yes. There is a daily lottery opening two days before the trip date, walk in spaces at the Wilderness Desk for anything the lotteries did not fill, and a calendar on each permit page showing unclaimed and cancelled reservations.
Where do I pick up a Zion wilderness permit?
In person at the Zion Canyon Visitor Center Wilderness Desk, the only place that issues them. The Kolob Canyons Wilderness Desk is closed until further notice. Allow at least twenty minutes and bring your vehicle make, model and licence plate.
Can someone else collect my Zion permit?
No. Permits are non transferable and the named reservation holder has to collect in person.
Can I hire a guide for The Subway or a technical canyon in Zion?
No. Commercial guiding is not allowed in the Zion Wilderness, and the park states plainly that paid guided trips are not permitted on The Subway. Outfitters can sell instruction and a vehicle shuttle, and guided canyoneering near Zion runs outside the park boundary.
What is the group size limit in the Zion wilderness?
Twelve people, on wilderness trails and in the canyons. A larger party needs to split into separate permitted groups.
The trips worth a permit are the ones you do yourself
Instruction and a shuttle are what an outfitter can legitimately sell you here. Both are worth having.
Also useful: the Angels Landing lottery, Narrows conditions and camping.
Walk in spaces exist for trips the lotteries did not fill.
Read the planning guide