Some cliffs that have been closed due to peregrine falcon nesting have been reopened.  As of 04/26/11 the East Temple, Mt Spry, Cable Mountain, and the Great White Throne have been reopened.  Due to active nesting sites Angels Landing, Mt Issac, Mt Kinesava, Mountain of the Sun, North Twin, Middle Fork of Taylor Creek, and Tunnel West area which included all routes west of the tunnel entrance including the Kung Fu amphitheatre.  The confluence, cragmont, and routes on Ataxia tower are not affected.  More information can be found here on the NPS website. The cliffs with active nesting sites will remained closed until sometime in June.

A rainbow over the Watchman

The week of April 16th thru the 22nd is National Park Week.  During this week all entrance fees to the park are waived to encourage people to get out and explore their National Parks.  This was an idea spearheaded by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to help promote access to our beautiful parks, “Americas Best Idea”.  The fee  free days apply to all National Parks and National Monuments.  This is a great deal for people visiting the Zion area and wanting to see other parks nearby like Bryce Canyon or Grand Canyon.  Many of the parks are having special events and volunteer opportunities to get further involved.

To help show our support and gratitude for the National Parks System Zion Mountain School is offering a 10% discount on all guided trips and instructional courses during National Park Week.  It is a great chance to visit Zion and try something new like canyoneering, rock climbing, or a mountain biking trip.  Just mention this post when call to book or enter the coupon code “npweek” into our online booking system.

Zion Narrows Hike

Zion National Park has closed the backcountry campsites in the Zion Narrows.  This is as a result of the  major flooding that occurred in December 2010.

This mainly affects people trying to use the online reservations system to book permits in advance.   It will probablly be at least a month before backcountry rangers can  assess the damage.

It is likely that some of the sites will reopen but some may need to be moved or repaired. This Zion National Park press release has more information about the closures.

Zion National Park has annual cliff closures for Peregrine Falcon Nesting.  This affects many of the popular cliffs for rock climbing in the park and include Angels Landing, Mt Kinesava, Tunnel Wall west, East Temple, Mt Spry, Issac, Mountain of the Sun, Great White Throne (climbs longer than 2 pitches), Sentinel, North Twin, and Middle Fork of Taylor Creek.  They go into effect on March 1st and get lifted in two phases.  Initially they close all cliffs with a history of nesting.  After monitoring  by park biologists they determine what cliffs have active nesting and keep those closed until the summer.  Check out our Zion Current Conditions page for more information on these closures and when they get lifted. Here is a link to the official Zion National Park press release.