Zion’s Angels Landing reopens after temporary closure

In a tweet, officials said the “chain section of Angels Landing trail is open for now. Trail crews may need to do some more work later in the week.”

The announcement was made around 1 p.m. Sunday. On Saturday night, the park tweeted that the trail would be closed “beyond Scout Lookout” on Sunday “due to hazardous conditions.”

Southern Utah and Northern Arizona were hit by a winter storm last week. Several inches of snow fell at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Zion officials didn’t specify if the closure was weather related.

The forecast for the next several days in Springdale, the gateway town to Zion, calls for sunshine, no precipitation and warming temperatures.

Thirteen hikers have fallen and died from Angels Landing, or the trail to it, since 2000. The tally includes two Utah men who have died this year.

Recent park deaths (partial list)

2019: A Maine woman died in a high-elevation fall in November.

2018: The body of a 13-year-old girl was found in Zion’s Refrigerator Canyon in February.

2016: A climber fell to his death while climbing a popular route in March.

2015: A 50-year-old Utah man died in a canyoneering accident in October. A month earlier, six people died during a flash flood inside a narrow canyon. In July, Brian Artmann, 24, of Henderson, fell to his death while climbing Heaps Canyon.

2014: A BASE jumper died in the park in March. A month earlier, a Utah woman died when her parachute failed to open after she leapt from a peak overlooking the park.

2010: In July, Corey Buxton, a 17-year-old senior at Centennial High School, was found in a ravine. Months earlier, two “Las Vegas area hikers” died during an expedition inside the park.