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Crews search for 79-year-old missing hiker in Zion National Park

The Canyon Overlook Trail is short, but can be steep in spots.

(National Park Service) John Fiske Burg, 79, has been reported missing in Zion National Park, the National Park Service reported on Sept. 30, 2021.

  | Sep. 30, 2021, 7:40 p.m.
| Updated: Oct. 1, 2021, 12:27 a.m.

Crews are looking for a missing hiker in Zion National Park on Thursday, and the Canyon Overlook Trail is closed temporarily as the search continues.

John Fiske Burg, 79, was last seen Tuesday morning leaving the La Quinta hotel in Kanab, where he was staying with a group of hikers. He’d said he might hike the Canyon Overlook Trail, and his vehicle was found at the trailhead, according to a National Park Service news release.

Burg is described as 5 feet, 9 inches, and 220 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. According to the release, he may be wearing a yellow jacket, a blue Osprey backpack, shorts, hiking boots and a white visor hat with a neck guard.

Zion National Park rangers and the Washington County Sheriff’s Office are investigating the case. If you have any information about Burg, call or text the tip line at 888-653-0009, email nps_isb@nps.gov or submit a tip online at go.nps.gov/SubmitATip.

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Hikers walk on the Canyon Overlook Trail in Zion National Park in 2015.

The hike to the Canyon Overlook is short, but can be steep in some spots and includes long drop-offs, according to the Zion National Park website and the park service. The moderate mile-long trek offers views of the Pine Creek slot canyon below and takes about an hour, round trip.

Zion is one of the most popular national parks in the United States, according to the National Park Service, and more than 3 million people visited the park in 2020.