Walking in ZNP

Riverside Walk, Zion National Park 20 March 2018

I first discovered ZNP as a passing British hiker who had a job in Denver in 1984. and it was peaceful and quiet. I joined the ZNHS, and even scanned and translated an old tome about the tunnel and switchback construction.

I've been back to southern Utah perhaps every 3 years on average since then; more like every year in the last five.

BUT Zion NP to me is now a zoo.

What a waste of a lovely place. I was there on a Monday 20 March 2018, I couldn't even park in the Visitors Centre. ZNP has become like the South Rim was 20 years ago. So I voluntarily chose to pay $20 to park in Springdale, on top of the park fee. I walk into the park as a pedestrian, and get ID'd like I was at an airport...eh?

I think there are no "Walk-ins" to either Campground now...it's all "pay in advance"; that's a disappointment too.

After a very long wait, I managed to get on a Zion bus up to the Narrows turnaround...this was just one week after the 2018 bus schedule had been implemented (and heaven forbid walk up to the Narrows trail...why don't they send the Shuttles up there? They'd get a bit more money, for sure!).

I chose to walk back to Springdale along the Virgin, as much as I could. It was actually a lovely 5-hour walk, looking up at the beautiful cliffs, the sun and shade as the path took me south. And on the whole the lack of people along the river bank.

The best thing that ZNP could do is to stop all motorised traffic from the junction. All of it. No cars, no buses, no trams motorcycles. Close the Zion Lodge. If people want to see Zion Canyon, they should see it on foot or bicycle or horse or other manual means like it was meant to be seen.

Next day I went to Kolob Canyons; what a refreshing change!

Rob

I agree, Zion is now a zoo.

There was a time when I would spend about 25 to 30 days a year in Zion, but over the last 5 years I rarely visit because it has become more of a Disneyland experience.

The sad part is Moab was my other favorite place and it's quickly following in the footsteps of Zion.

Was in Zion today--utter mad house.

Not hard to escape the crowds but eventually you have to deal with them.

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Originally Posted by Iceaxe

I agree, Zion is now a zoo.

There was a time when I would spend about 25 to 30 days a year in Zion, but over the last 5 years I rarely visit because it has become more of a Disneyland experience.

The sad part is Moab was my other favorite place and it's quickly following in the footsteps of Zion.

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I went to Moab too this trip. Moab Marathon + a variety on Jeep week. It wasn't quite the same zoo...at least the animals were (on the whole) genuine outdoor participants, rather than coach-loads of fat sweaty tourists.

Note to self: get fitter + lose some weight! :oops:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by oldno7

Was in Zion today--utter mad house.

Not hard to escape the crowds but eventually you have to deal with them.

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Ya, but it's still worth it. There is some more traffic, more people on the shuttle, more in the narrows. But in the areas where I like to be, there aren't any people and dealing with the crowds is just a small sacrifice.

They aren't going to go away, so my choice is to embrace it and deal with it and enjoy what I want out of it. It really isn't that big of a deal. Anytime I hear someone complain, all I hear is my grandma talking about how gas used to be .25 / gallon when she was a kid.

Times have changed and it isn't going back.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 2065toyota

Ya, but it's still worth it. There is some more traffic, more people on the shuttle, more in the narrows. But in the areas where I like to be, there aren't any people and dealing with the crowds is just a small sacrifice.

They aren't going to go away, so my choice is to embrace it and deal with it and enjoy what I want out of it. It really isn't that big of a deal. Anytime I hear someone complain, all I hear is my grandma talking about how gas used to be .25 / gallon when she was a kid.

Times have changed and it isn't going back.

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Completely agree. Like you said, what other option is there? Not go, I guess. But then that only hurts you from seeing those awesome places.

While it can be a zoo, on the other side of the token, I’m glad people are getting out and having “wilderness” experiences and seeing these majestic places.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

"get off my lawn"


But, on a side note--at the end of the day, there were very few people at Oscars:mrgreen:

I'm not a fan of crowds, I've just changed my destination to places less crowded. Lately I've been spending more time in Capital Reef, the Swell and Cedar Mesa instead of Zion.