Zion Subway Guides: Permits, Routes, Guides, Seasons
Zion Subway guides: the permit lottery, how long each route takes, guides and the Wilderness rule, winter and spring, the Subway against the Narrows, and what to book without a permit.
The Zion Subway Permit Lottery
How to get a Subway permit: the four seasonal lottery windows, the daily lottery two days ahead, unclaimed spots, the fees, collecting the permit, and where NPS's own pages disagree.
Read guide →How Long Is the Subway Hike in Zion?
The Subway's two routes in NPS's figures: bottom-up, a 9-mile round trip of 6 to 10 hours, and top-down, a 9.5-mile through-hike with rappels and cold swims. On the map, with who each suits.
Read guide →Can You Hike the Subway with a Guide?
No guided trip may enter the Subway: NPS allows guiding only on frontcountry trails. What guides can do in and around Zion instead, and where the skills are taught.
Read guide →The Subway in Winter and Spring
Hiking the Subway from November to May: NPS's cold-water warnings, the 16 April snowpack rule for top-down permits, what the rule does not promise, and the permit you still need.
Read guide →The Subway or the Narrows?
The Subway against the Narrows in Zion: which needs a permit, how far each goes in NPS's figures, the water, when each closes, and the guided Narrows days you can book.
Read guide →No Subway Permit? What to Book Instead
Missed the Subway lottery? Slot-canyon walks and rappelling trips east of Zion, guided Narrows days and Angels Landing's own permit, each one for what it is, with prices and limits.
Read guide →No permit for the Subway? Book a guided slot-canyon walk east of the park →