Made reservations (paid deposit) at a Zion NP campground for July and now I don't know if we can get tickets to enter the park...???

[Tbutta]

The campsite opened its ability to take reservations today so I grabbed ours for our July 2022 trip to UT. Planning to spend 4 nights at Zion Canyon Camp and enjoy the park for 3 days. 7 of us in the family. I'm flying us all out to UT and renting an RV (also reserved) for this trip. Now I'm hearing that tickets to see the park and utilize the shuttles will be limited and I'm kinda freaking out that we will somehow not be able to do this. Tried to get onto their site that lists the calendar dates that they are selling passes and its a broken link or over saturated w hits. I have no idea how this is going to work for us. I have no ability to foresee these logistics. I'm just hoping that someone here might know something or know how to contact someone who does. I'm sure I'll try calling the park itself tomorrow, but I can't imagine I'll have a ton of success there...maybe...who knows?

 

[Mr Lars]

Limited for what reason?

 

[UTTransplant]

If you have a campground reservation, you are generally good for trams. Call the park tomorrow to make sure, but thanks the way it works at some other parks.

 

[Alaskansnowbirds]

It was just on the Phoenix news that some of the most popular trails (like Angel's Landing) in Zion will be on a permit lottery. If I remember right this is just for certain times, not all season.

I didn't pay real close attention to the news cast.

 

[Arch Hoagland]

News Releases - Zion National Park (U.S. National Park Service)
That's the news as of 1/3/22

 

[Ex-Calif]

Wow. I had no idea this place was so popular/crowded. Half a million a month in summer? The photo of the traffic jam says it all.

https://www.nps.gov/zion/planyourvisit/seasons.htm

Reminds me of climbing mount Fuji. Nose to butt with the person in front of you for like 10 hours.

Hope your trip works out well. Looks like there is some sort of lottery in place for parts of the park - A bit confusing for the simple likes of me.

 

[cliffy49]

"Made reservations (paid deposit) at a Zion NP campground for July and now I don't know if we can get tickets to enter the park...???"​

Well, I am in the same boat. made my reservations on the 3rd of Dec. and found out about a week later that you are going to need a ticket to get into Arches.

Either I will spend alot of time at the campground or a lot of time Canyonlands. Just have to try and get my tickets. They open bookinigs 3 months out so we shall see.

 

[strugglebus1]

A few of the most popular FL state parks operate similarly. Even with a camping reservation if you are not there before they reach capacity the rules state that you will not be allowed to enter. I avoided those because I'm rarely at my destination prior to 3:00.

 

[Tbutta]

Yeah - guess its the Angel's landing hike and a few others. Here's the page on the lottery:

https://www.recreation.gov/permits/4675310

I'll be in the drawing in April... fingers crossed. Thanks for the replies y'all!

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Dunno about the current situation but it used to be that your permit to camp at Zion was your park admission and tram pass. In other words you were already included in the count as far as limits were concerned. But that was in the early days, when limits were first implemented, so check with the park staff. And merely being allowed IN the park did not mean you had access to every facility, e.g. the hiking trails that have traffic limits. And even with a tram pass, you could be held back if the tram capacity was already exceeded.

 

[Tbutta]

"Made reservations (paid deposit) at a Zion NP campground for July and now I don't know if we can get tickets to enter the park...???"​

Well, I am in the same boat. made my reservations on the 3rd of Dec. and found out about a week later that you are going to need a ticket to get into Arches.

Either I will spend alot of time at the campground or a lot of time Canyonlands. Just have to try and get my tickets. They open bookinigs 3 months out so we shall see.

Arches was on my list to see, but now I don't know. Good luck!

 

[Tbutta]

Dunno about the current situation but it used to be that your permit to camp at Zion was your park admission and tram pass. In other words you were already included in the count as far as limits were concerned. But that was in the early days, when limits were first implemented, so check with the park staff. And merely being allowed IN the park did not mean you had access to every facility, e.g. the hiking trails that have traffic limits. And even with a tram pass, you could be held back if the tram capacity was already exceeded.

Kind of in awe over the number of posts you've made... awesome.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Kind of in awe over the number of posts you've made... awesome.

Thanks. I'm an old guy and have been a member here for over 25 years.

 

[Tbutta]

I got off the phone w Zion. Thought I would write up what I learned just in case it helps someone else. As you can see (if you check out the parks site), you apply to the lottery several months in advance of your visit. And yes, this is basically just for Angel's Landing hike. BTW, the guy said that it just actually for the last chain portion of the hike that you need a pass. You can do the switchbacks and get up to the chains w/out a pass.
Anyway, since our party is 7, and the lottery for tickets has a max of 6, I have to have my wife apply for the other ticket if we all want to go. Apparently it takes a few weeks to get all signed up and ready to roll the dice, but we still have some time (our trip is mid july and the drawing for the summer months is in apr.) I think that I actually will have my wife apply for all 6 and I will apply for 6 as well, just in case one of us fails to get tickets (in which case only one of us won't be able to hike the last bit). The non-refundable fee to apply isn't too bad ( $6 per person), and we can always return the 5 unused tickets (if we win all 12) well in advance of the trip so we aren't charged for those actual passes (we'd just be out like $30 for the lottery fee).
He also said that shuttles will run as normal and should be able to accommodate people the same as it has in the past (with the exception of requiring masks). Good luck!!