Welcome To The Most Complete Zion National Park Travel Guide

The magnificence of the Zion Canyon area was known by a privileged few Native American Indians and early Mormon pioneer settlers prior to the completion of a Federal Land Survey in 1908. The survey findings were so impressive that they were brought to the attention of President William Howard Taft. In July 1909, Taft declared the more than 15,000 acres of the main canyon through Zion a National Monument called Mukuntuweap. In the first ten years after receiving National Monument status fewer than 1000 people were able to make the journey to Mukuntuweap. This was due to the underdeveloped roads and distance from a railway station. The visitors to the area found the trip into Zion Canyon difficult, but the canyon itself was reported to be magnificent. The observations of these early visitors along with several informal reports commissioned by the federal government, helped in the effort to create the National Parks Service in August 1916.

By March 1918 the monument had grown to more 76,000 acres and had a name change. The area was now known as Zion National Monument. By November of 1919 the federal government had upgraded the area to National Park status. However, this new National Park did not see and increase in the number of visitor’s willing to, or able to make the difficult trip. At that time Stephen Mather was the director of the National Parks Service. Mather was awed by the splendor of Zion National Park and made at least one trip to the park each year from 1919 to 1929. Mather would often bring influential traveling companions along on his annual pilgrimage to Zion Canyon. During the 1921 trip, his companions included a writer from the Saturday Evening Post and a famous naturalist. The three began discussions of a tourist circle during a visit to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park. The tourist circle, which came to be known as the Grand Circle, takes visitors from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon to Bryce Canyon National Park, Cedar Breaks National Monument and Zion Canyon.

Working with the people from several communities located in the Zion National Park area, Mather was able to get roads within Washington County paved. He also worked with a local photographer, who had been hired by the Union Pacific Railroad to take and colorize photographs of Zion Canyon for use in advertising, to get a 5,613 foot tunnel built through the sandstone cliffs of Zion Canyon. The Zion/Mt. Carmel Tunnel and highway created a viable roadway to be used for touring of the Grand Circle.

The Union Pacific Railroad saw the potential of the Southern Utah/Arizona area and created a subsidiary business called Utah Parks Company. The Utah Parks Company poured more that $1,700,000 into improvements in and around Zion National Park. Some of these improvements included laying a track to Cedar City and the construction of a railway station, extensive advertising in popular magazines and the creation of a bus-touring service that transported visitors from Cedar City to Zion National Park as well as the other stops along the Grand Circle. However, the most significant improvement was the construction of the Zion National Park Lodge and 46 rental cabins in the heart of the park. The lodge was lost to a devastating fire in 1966. The Utah Parks Company quickly rebuilt the lodge. However, the rustic charm of the original building was left out of its replacement. During a 1990 restoration, much of the design from the original lodge was added to the building. The Zion National Park Lodge and rental cabins are still available to park visitors, but reservations should be scheduled a minimum of one year in advance.