You’d be hard-pressed to meet someone who hasn’t at least heard of Zion National Park.
The park is located less than four and half hours from the U. Once there, a multitude of activities present themselves for people of every skill level.
Bird watchers can delight in the more than 200 species that inhabit the park. Experienced climbers can also break a sweat on the rocks. Hikes and canyons abound, and for those looking for a more relaxing day, there are many viewpoints that can be accessed via roads and the main canyon’s shuttle system.
Cassidy Brown, a Kid’s Camp counselor at Zion Ponderosa Ranch Resort, has visited Zion many times.
“Every time I go, my jaw drops,” she says.
As an avid canyoneer, she said Mystery Canyon is breathtaking, but it can be exclusive in terms of getting permits. It has everything from slots to panoramas that open up to reveal the sky.
For Cassidy, the canyon is also a reminder of the dynamics of nature.
“There’s a lake in Mystery that wasn’t there in the ‘70s,” she says. “A rockfall dammed up part of the canyon, allowing a body of water to form.”
Mike Large, the lead park ranger for Zion’s Division of Interpretation, has been working for the park for the past 23 years. For those with only a weekend to spend at Zion, Large suggests sticking to the main canyon and visiting the major trails and viewpoints.
“First-time visitors should not miss the Riverside Walk, Weeping Rock and Emerald Pools trails,” Large says. “Zion Lodge is located in the middle of the canyon and provides food services and scenic views. The Human History Museum has interesting displays, ranger talks and the park’s orientation movie.”
Cassidy suggests visiting Observation Point.
“Observation Point gives you a great view of the main canyon,” she says. “I like to hit it from the top. You can drive to the parking lot off the Ponderosa property, hike a few easy miles, and you’re rewarded with an amazing view.”
But in spite of its inherent beauty, Zion National Park is not without its issues. Nearly three million people, Cassidy said, visited Zion in 2013, and 2014 is already looking to surpass those numbers. Each of these visitors has something they want to see, and often forget they are treading in other living things’ ecosystems.
“People are kind of destructive by nature, and despite our efforts, people are still on vacation,” she says.
To combat this, Zion opened up a shuttle system in 2000 to eliminate the need for cars to enter the main canyon. This mandatory public transit replaces over 50,000 cars with buses to transport visitors across Zion. As a result, Large said, wildlife is kept safer and carbon emissions are reduced. But he said sometimes the area still can’t handle the stress.
“At times the shuttle buses are filled to capacity,” Large says. “People should think about visiting Zion in the slower time of year.”
The 229-square mile area comprising the park has seen a history of varied cultures, from hunter-gatherers surviving more than 8,000 years ago, to the Anasazi, who inhabited the region from 300 to 1300 CE. Despite a few devastating droughts over the millennium, people have always returned to the area. In the mid 1800s, the Mormon pioneers began settling the area, and Zion National Park was eventually established in 1919.
“The early Mormon settlers described Zion as sanctuary. A lot of visitors share in that feeling,” Large says. “People from all over the world have told me that they feel at peace and have found their own sanctuary when they visit Zion.”
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