SPRINGDALE, Utah — A visitor at Zion National Park in southern Utah has died after falling from the popular Angels Landing Trail, prompting a search and rescue operation.
The National Park Service confirmed they were first called to reports of a fall on the Angels Landing Trail at 2 p.m. Friday. Due to the recovery attempts, the West Rim Trail, including Scout Lookout and Angels Landing, were immediately closed.
By late Friday afternoon, rangers were still clearing out the area and bringing everyone down from the landing. People coming down the trail said it was chaos, but they did not know exactly what happened and were just told to come back down.
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On Saturday, the National Park Service confirmed the death and that a body had been recovered. Officials are waiting to notify next of kin before releasing additional information.
The trails were reopened Saturday morning.
Both the West Rim and Angels Landing trails are among the most visited at the park, with Angels Landing consistently being ranked as one of the most dangerous trails in the national park system.
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Angels Landing can only be reached by permit. It is a thin, precarious trail that people climb with only a chain to hang on to, with drops of 500 to 1,000 feet down the side of the trail.
According to records, well over a dozen people have fallen from the trail since 2000. Of those, 13 died of their injuries.
At an event celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Zion National Park Lodge earlier in the day, U.S. Sen. John Curtis spoke about his love of Angels Landing.
"Well, I like Angels Landing, and I feel so bad that it takes a permit to get here because I wish everybody could come and have that experience," Curtis said.
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This article was published by Jeff Tavss for the Scripps News Group station in Salt Lake City.
