Zion officials hope to have a draft visitor use management plan ready for public review late this year/NPS file of Virgin River crowds

Zion National Park staff, after eight years of work, is developing a suite of strategies — including reservation systems — for use in protecting park resources and the visitor experience from accelerating tourism.

Susan McPartland, the park's visitor use manager, stopped short Tuesday on the question of whether a park-wide reservation system would be called for in the draft plan expected to be ready for public review late this year.

“Visitor capacity is an important part of this planning effort. Visitor capacity is identifying that maximum amount and timing of visitor use you can have in an area while you’re still achieving your desired conditions. That could be desired conditions for public safety, resources, for visitor experience itself," she said during a media briefing. "So, we will identify some additional visitor capacities as part of this planning effort, and then things like reservation systems are really the tools that help us manage to that visitor capacity. ... We’re evaluating that as one of the strategies, looking at potential reservation systems and different types of reservation systems.”

Zion, which has seen annual visitation soar 90 percent since 2010 — 2020 visitation eclipsed 5 million, while last year 4.6 million explored the sandstone wonder in southwestern Utah — is not alone in the National Park System in grappling with visitation. Rocky Mountain National Park, Glacier National Park, Arches National Park, and Mount Rainier National Park have turned to timed-entry reservation systems, and Acadia National Park requires reservations at peak times of the year for driving to the top of Cadillac Mountain. Yosemite National Park is using timed-entry on a trial basis this year.

As long ago as 2017 Zion officials considered turning to a reservation system for managing visitation. Opposition, including from Utah’s congressional delegation, short-circuited that move. Today, though, it sounds like park staff has made a compelling argument for moving to some sort of reservation system, whether it’s park-wide, to specific areas such as Angels Landing (which has required permits since 2022), seasonal, or year-round.

“We have spent a lot of time talking with the congressional delegation, other local elected officials, to really walk through what we are facing at Zion and the type of tools we need,” McPartland said. “So, we’ve continued our planning process to really look at what the park needs to accomplish our goals.”

In constructing the draft visitor use plan, park staff incorporated data and outcomes from Zion’s wilderness use permit system, the shuttle bus permit system used during the height of the Covid pandemic, and the Angels Landing Permit system. Also, the park reviewed "data on visitor use levels and patterns to understand how experiences have changed over time, piloted potential visitor use management strategies, and worked with stakeholders and the public to better understand their current experiences and preferences."

Annual Recreation Visits to Zion National Park from 1919 through 2023. Visitation has nearly doubled between 2010 and 2021. Visitation reached 1 million in 1975, 2 million in 1990, 3 million in 2014, 4 million in 2016, and 5 million in 2021/NPS

“Ultimately, all of these pilots and temporary measures are allowing us to learn what it takes to design, implement, and operate these types of reservation systems,” said McPartland. “And we are using that information to inform our current work in the visitor use management plan.”

Plus, the park has looked at how other parks have worked to manage exploding visitation, she said.

“Ultimately, the best system is the one that is going to allow the National Park Service flexibility to changing visitor use patterns,” said McPartland.

To keep the public apprised of the ongoing work, and what’s gone into the draft, Zion staff has created a webpage that covers the project.