Almost everyone who searches this is asking one of two questions: can I just show up and hike it, and what do I do now that I know I cannot.
No, and there are two lotteries. Here is the whole system, and the part most pages leave out — that a large share of the hike needs no permit at all.
The part nobody tells you first
You can hike 2.25 miles from the Grotto to Scout Lookout with no permit, no lottery and no fee. That is about 1,000 feet of climbing, it includes Walter’s Wiggles, and it ends at the saddle where the canyon opens up in front of you.
The permit covers what happens after Scout Lookout: the half-mile chain section along the fin to the summit. That is the part with the drop-offs on both sides, and it is the part rangers check for.
So before you spend two weeks chasing a lottery, be honest about which hike you actually want. If the appeal is the view, you can have it on any day you like, for free. If the appeal is the chains, read on.
Lottery one: the seasonal lottery
Apply months ahead, for a season at a time. You pick up to seven ranked day-and-time combinations, which matters more than it sounds — a single rigid choice is how people lose.
The 2026–27 windows, as published by the Park Service:
| Hiking dates | Lottery opens | Closes | Permits issued |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Mar — 31 May 2026 | 13 Feb | 25 Feb | 26 Feb |
| 1 Jun — 31 Aug 2026 | 1 Apr | 20 Apr | 25 Apr |
| 1 Sep — 30 Nov 2026 | 1 Jul | 20 Jul | 25 Jul |
| 1 Dec 2026 — 28 Feb 2027 | 1 Oct | 20 Oct | 25 Oct |
If you are reading this in September 2026, the next window opens on 1 October and closes on the 20th. The September-to-November lottery closed on 20 July and is gone. Winter permits are the ones on the table.
Winter is also, quietly, the best time to do this hike: the canyon is empty, the shuttle is not running so the Scenic Drive opens to cars, and the exposure is far less unpleasant without summer heat. The catch is ice on the chains, which is a real reason to turn back and not a theoretical one.
Lottery two: the day-before lottery
This is the one that rescues trips.
- Opens 12:01 a.m. Mountain Time
- Closes 3:00 p.m. the same day
- Results at 4:00 p.m., for the next day’s hike
It runs every single day. If you are in Springdale for four nights, that is four independent attempts, and the practical strategy is to enter every morning of your stay rather than treating one loss as the answer.
What it costs
| Application fee | $6, covering up to six people |
| Permit fee if you win | $3 per person |
| Refundable? | The $6 never is. The $3 is refundable on the seasonal lottery if you cancel two or more days out, and not at all on the day-before lottery |
A group of four pays $6 to try and $12 more if they win. Eighteen dollars is not the obstacle; the calendar is.
The mistakes that actually cost people the hike
Applying for one date. You get seven ranked choices. Using one is throwing away six.
Not knowing the day-before lottery exists. People lose the seasonal lottery, conclude Angels Landing is off, and never enter the one that runs every morning of their trip.
Booking the trip around the permit. It is the wrong order. Book the trip, then enter the day-before lottery each morning, and treat the summit as a bonus on top of a hike you were going to enjoy anyway.
Assuming the permit is the hard part. It is not. The chains are. Every year people win a permit, reach Scout Lookout, look at the fin, and turn around — which is a completely reasonable thing to do and not a wasted day.
Where to apply
Permits are issued through recreation.gov, not by the park directly and not by any tour operator. Anyone selling you an Angels Landing permit is not selling you an Angels Landing permit.
We make nothing from this. Recreation.gov has no affiliate program, so the most valuable thing on this page earns us nothing — which is roughly why the pages that rank for it are mostly trying to sell you something else.