THIS YEAR

The Subway (Left Fork), Mystery Canyon, and Virgin River Narrows have their own application system.  This summary covers Subway/Mystery and Other Canyons, not the Narrows. Generally you can apply in three time periods for canyons, what i'm calling:  Early, Just Before, and Day-Of.

1. Early: 2-3 Months ahead, called "Seasonal Lottery" for Mystery/Subway & "Advanced Reservations" for all other canyons

2. Just Before: 2-Days beforehand, called the "Daily Lottery" for All Canyons

3. Day-Of: Called Walk-In permits (All Canyons)

-Permits allocated via: Seasonal Lottery + Daily Lottery

-Recreation.gov Seasonal Lottery links: Subway, Mystery

-Application Window: Feb 1 - Feb 25 (for Canyon dates between Apr 1 - Jun 30)

-Results: Feb 27

-Deadline to claim successful application: Mar 10

-Unclaimed permits: Available Mar 15 @ 10am MST

Daily Lottery
-Only option for Subway/Mystery if not successful in Seasonal Lottery

-Application Window: 2 Days before trip, 12am-3pm MST

-Results: 2 Days before trip at 4pm MST

-Walk-in permits not available

-Permits allocated via: Advanced Reservations + Daily Lottery + Walk-In

-Available online 3 months beforehand. Mar 5 @ 10:00am MST  all April, May, and June permits will be available (This is where we will get the vast majority of our permits, and I anticipated it will be a feeding frenzy)

-Same as Subway & Mystery (see above)

-Any permits not allocated through all other lotteries/drawings, available the day before at the park Wilderness Desk