SPRINGDALE — Campers and permit-seekers will find changes in place at Zion National Park, effective in 2024.
Hikers navigate water and rocks in the Narrows of Zion Canyon, Zion National Park, Utah, unspecified date | Photo courtesy of Marc Neidig and the National Park Service, St. George News
Campground fees will increase, and a new online reservation system for canyoneering, backpacking camping and other wilderness permits will be in place.
“We adopted these changes to improve accessibility and visitor service,” Jeff Bradybaugh, Zion National Park superintendent, said in a news release. “These changes are going to help us maintain essential facilities like restrooms and drinking water systems, rehabilitate campsites and simplify applications for wilderness recreation permits.”
The Angels Landing Pilot Permit Program is not affected by these changes and will continue as it has since 2022.
2024 Camping and permit changes and fees
Location
Amenity
Current
Effective for stays on and after July 1, 2024
Watchman Campground
Electric campsite
$30 per night
$45 per night
Non-electric campsite
$20 per night
$35 per night
Effective upon seasonal reopening in Spring 2024
South Campground
Non-Electric Campsite
$20 per night
$35 per night
Lava Point Campground
Non-Electric Campsite
$20 per night
$25 per night
Watchman and South Campground
Dump Station fee for non-campers only
No fee
$5
Visitors will continue to make park campground reservations using Recreation.gov.
Wilderness Recreation Permits
Effective Jan. 5, 2024, Zion will migrate its wilderness recreation permit system to Recreation.gov.
Besides giving users the ability to create itinerary-based trips and rank their top choices of desired destinations and recreation dates in lottery applications – which we could not offer with our former permit system – this change will benefit visitors by improving:
User interface
This feature provides an online and mobile app experience consistent with other parks, recreation areas and other federal lands across the United States and improves access to phone and online chat application assistance, which will be available seven days a week.
Communications with permit holders
This entralizes applications for all Zion recreation reservations and lotteries and enables Zion to directly contact permit holders via email and text message.
System resilience
Higher server reliability.
Increases access to web support for park rangers who manage the system.
Enhances compliance with federal requirements for system security, privacy protection and financial transactions.
Types of permitted wilderness recreation activities at Zion
In general, there are two kinds of activities that require Wilderness Recreation Permits. These are:
Day Use
Overnight Use
Day use
Wilderness permits are for a day-long activity such as canyoneering trips to the Left Fork-Subway and for the 16-mile (top-down) day hike of the Virgin River Narrows.
Day-use applications and reservations
Activity
Current
Effective Jan. 5, 2024
Seasonal Lottery
(up to 4 months in advance)
$5 per application
$6 per application/reservation/permit
(applies to everyday use application/reservation/permit)
Advance Day Use Reservation
(up to 3 months in advance)
$5 per reservation
Daily Lottery
(2 days before)
$5 per application
Walk Up Permit
(first-come first-served, the day of or day before hikes)
No fee
Day Use permit fees
Group Size
Current
Effective Jan. 5, 2024
Up to 2 people
$15 per group
$10 per person per day
(applies to any day use permit)
3 to 7 people
$20 per group
8 to 12 people
$25 per group
Note: Only applicants who secure a permit through a lottery, by advance reservation, or by walking up will pay the $10 per person per day fee.
Overnight use
Permits are for overnight activity such as camping in designated Wilderness campsites, bivouac (bivy) camping on climbs, and at-large camping in authorized areas.
Overnight use applications and reservations
Activity
Current
Effective Jan. 5, 2024
Advance Reservation
(up to three months in advance)
$5 per reservation
$20 per reservation
(applies to any reservation)
Walk-up Permits
(first-come first-served, the day of or day before hikes)
No fee
$20 per booking
(applies to any overnight permit)
Overnight use permit fees
Group Size
Current
Effective Jan. 5, 2024
Up to 2 people
$15 per group
$7 per person per night
(applies to any overnight permit)
3 to 7 people
$20 per group
8 to 12 people
$25 per group
Note: Only applicants who get a permit through advance reservation or by walking up will pay the additional $7 per person per night fee.
Zion counts on your comments
Zion asked for your comments on these changes, and the park took them into account as officials are implementing changes. Learn more about the comment process and read our responses at the Planning, Environment & Public Comment for this project.
A legacy of success
The last time campground fees in Zion changed was in 2015, and the park service has not changed wilderness permit fees since 2016. In 2016, the park recorded about 3.6 million visits.
In 2021, Zion recorded more than 5 million visits – the most in its history. Rising visitation has increased demand for campsites and increased need for facility maintenance services such as cleaning restrooms, removing recyclables and trash and servicing roads and campsites.
Rising visitation has also resulted in increased stress on the plants, animals, and historic sites in Zion Wilderness. Rangers who issue Wilderness permits provide guidance so that visitors complete their trips safely and use techniques to conserve these areas. That guidance is essential to ensuring the park’s least developed areas remain wild.
Future improvements
Zion is in the process of developing a plan to improve South Campground and the entire South Entrance Area. Park officials are using the public comments on design concepts from 2022 to finalize construction plans and anticipate sharing more about these plans soon.