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ZION NATIONAL PARK — Climbing routes on cliffs used by nesting peregrine falcons in Zion National Park will be temporarily closed beginning March 1 in order to protect the falcons' nesting success.
The cliffs that will be closed are: Angels Landing, Cable Mountain, The Great White Throne (beyond single- and double-pitched climbs), Isaac (in Court of the Patriarchs), The Sentinel, Mountain of the Sun, North Twin Brother, Tunnel Wall, The East Temple, Mount Spry, The Streaked Wall, Mount Kinesava, and the Middle Fork of Taylor Creek.
All other cliffs will remain open to climbing.
Park biologists will monitor the nesting activity of the falcons in the park throughout the 2012 breeding season. Cliffs that have been closed but are not being used by nesting peregrines this year will be reopened when nest sites have been determined, typically by late April or early May.
Those cliffs being used this year will be monitored until the chicks fledge, usually in late July, and then will be reopened to climbing.
For up-to-date information on the status and maps of the closed climbing cliffs, please check the Zion National Park website at www.nps.gov/zion/planyourvisit/climbing.htm. Climbers are responsible for checking the specific maps of the closed areas.
The peregrine falcon is in recovery from endangered species status.
