New Online Permit System Coming to Zion National Park in 2024

Zion National Park will be switching to a new online service for reserving permits for camping and other recreational activities starting in early 2024.

The announcement came via a press release from Zion National Park officials that stated all the big changes coming in the new year.

The press release said, “Effective in 2024, Zion National Park will change fees in campgrounds and start using a new online reservation system for canyoneering, backpacking camping, and other Wilderness permits.”

Zion National Park Superintendent Jeff Bradybaugh also provided a statement about the changes.

Bradybaugh said, “We adopted these changes to improve accessibility and visitor service. 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 changes to the Wilderness Recreation Permit system will go into effect on January 5, 2024, with Recreation.gov being the go-to destination.

The press release said, “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"

According to the press release, this change will benefit visitors by improving:

User interface 

• Provides an online and mobile app experience consistent with other parks, recreation areas, and other Federal Lands across the United States. 
• Improves access to phone and online chat application assistance which will be available 7 days a week.
  

Communications with permit holders 

• Centralizes applications for all Zion recreation reservations & lotteries. 
• 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.

All expected changes can be found on Zion’s website along with some history going into similar changes of the national park’s past.