Crowding, Risk, and Visitor Use Management on the Angels Landing Trail in Zion National Park

Zion National Park has seen substantial increased visitor use in recent years, bringing forward a number of visitor use management challenges. Many visitors consider the park’s Angels Landing trail, a steep and relatively challenging hike, a primary destination in the park. A number of well documented fatalities have been associated with the Angels Landing trail, prompting substantial risk management concerns. In the context of increased visitor use and increased attention to these fatalities, this research reviews literature on crowding and risk management before using National Park Service and media reports concerning 16 deaths associated with Angels Landing to characterize trends among age, gender, time of day, specific location, and other factors. Findings note that few of the fatalities occurred on the trail itself; those that did were not on the sections of the trail where risk management interventions have been installed, and none were associated with crowding or high visitor use. From these analyses, managers should consider disentangling notions of crowding and risk, particularly in light of new management strategies concerning permitting and limiting hikers on Angels Landing.