Zion caps the highway between Canyon Junction and the East Entrance at 35 ft 9 in long, 7 ft 10 in wide, 11 ft 4 in tall, and 50,000 pounds. The escort permit that used to carry oversize rigs through ended on June 7, 2026. Measure before you leave Duck Creek.
Can Your RV Fit Through the Zion Tunnel? The 2026 Limits and the Permit That Ended
Your rig fits if it stays under 35 feet 9 inches long, 7 feet 10 inches wide, 11 feet 4 inches tall, and 50,000 pounds. Cross any one of those and Zion turns you around at the gate. The escort permit that used to carry oversize vehicles through the tunnel ended on June 7, 2026, so no fee buys you an exception now.
| Limit | Number |
|---|---|
| Single vehicle length | 35 ft 9 in |
| Width and height | 7 ft 10 in, 11 ft 4 in |
| Trailer rig length | 50 ft total, 26 ft trailer |
Weight caps at 50,000 pounds. The trailer figure runs from hitch to rear axle, and the 50 feet counts everything you are driving and pulling.
The four numbers that decide your day
Measure all four before you leave the village. Zion applies the limits to the entire stretch of highway between Canyon Junction and the East Entrance, not to the tunnel bore alone, so a rig that clears the arch on paper still gets stopped for length or weight.
The park points at two safety studies, one from 1989 and one from 2019, for the reasoning. Long vehicles cannot hold a single lane on the switchbacks, tall and wide ones cannot pass through the tunnel in one lane of travel, and heavy ones exceed the rated load on four bridges along the route.
Utah adds its own list of who stays off that highway. Semi trucks, vehicles hauling hazardous material, bicyclists, and pedestrians all fall outside the rules for this corridor. Carry bikes through inside a vehicle or plan to ride somewhere else.
The tunnel permit ended in June
For decades, a rig too tall or too wide for one lane could buy passage. Rangers held traffic at both portals, sent the oversize vehicle down the center of the bore, and released the queue behind it. That program stopped on June 7, 2026.
The new cap sits at the same width and height that used to trigger an escort. So anything that once needed a ranger now falls over the limit, and a permit has nothing left to cover. Zion’s fee page bears that out. It lists entrance passes, camping, Angels Landing, and wilderness permits, with no tunnel permit among them.
A lot of the internet has not caught up. Forum posts, older guidebooks, and route planners still tell RV drivers to budget for a tunnel pass and pick their arrival to match escort hours. Treat any page that quotes a tunnel permit price as out of date.
Entry itself costs $35 per private vehicle for seven days, $30 for a motorcycle, or $20 per person on foot or bike. A Zion annual pass runs $70. A traveler from outside the US who is 16 or older owes an added $100. An annual pass or an America the Beautiful pass waives it.
The reroute from Duck Creek costs you hours
Duck Creek sits 49 miles from Zion’s East Entrance. Call it 75 minutes on Highway 14 and US-89. Continue through the tunnel and Springdale lands about 63 miles out, close to an hour and 50 minutes. That is the trip an oversize rig loses.
Going around is the only option left. From the village, the shortest legal reroute to Springdale drops down Highway 14 to Cedar City, runs south on I-15, then comes east on SR-9. Figure 88 miles and two hours. UDOT measures its own pair of alternates between the park’s two entrances: 80 miles on the southern route through Hurricane, Colorado City, and Kanab, and 161 miles on the northern route by way of I-15, SR-20, and US-89.
The Springdale side of the park, the half an oversize rig now reaches the long way around. Photo from the Duck Creek Village Inn image library.
One caution in UDOT’s guidance deserves a local footnote. The state tells large vehicles to skip SR-14 and SR-143 as Zion bypasses, because both climb hard and turn sharp. That is a recommendation about comfort and grade, though, and not a legal limit. Utah’s list of restricted secondary highways gives SR-14 a single entry: loads wider than 14 feet need two pilot cars and two police escorts. No length cap, no height cap. Motorhomes climb the Highway 14 grade to and from Cedar City every week of the summer.
Leave the big rig at the cabin
The cleanest fix costs nothing. Park the motorhome or drop the trailer where you are staying, take the tow car or the truck, and drive the 49 miles to the East Entrance with a vehicle that clears every limit by a wide margin.
That is the case for basing on the mountain instead of moving the whole rig each morning. You keep the east side of Zion. That stretch stays open to private cars year round, with no shuttle line to stand in. Our guide to the East Entrance walks the drive, and the back door route from Duck Creek covers the stops between here and the gate.
Check current road conditions the morning you go. A closure on Highway 14 or SR-9 changes the math faster than any size limit does. Browse our cabins for a base with room to park the rig and a short drive to the quiet side of the park.
Quick answers about the Zion tunnel
Can I still buy a tunnel permit for an oversize RV? No. Zion ended the permit option on June 7, 2026, and there is no paid exception of any kind now. Vehicles over the limits reroute.
Does the limit apply only inside the tunnel? No, it covers the full highway between Canyon Junction and the East Entrance, switchbacks and bridges included.
Is there a separate limit for a truck and trailer? Yes. The combination caps at 50 feet, and the trailer itself caps at 26 feet from hitch to rear axle.
Can I ride a bike through the tunnel? No. Bicyclists and pedestrians stay out of this corridor, so carry bikes in or on a vehicle.
Is Highway 14 closed to large vehicles? No. Utah restricts only loads wider than 14 feet on SR-14, though UDOT still advises big rigs against using it as a Zion bypass because of the grade and the curves.
