This majestic cottonwood tree in front of Zion Lodge appears to be nearing the end of its life/NPS file

Across the National Park System there are many iconic images that catch visitors' attention, some as notable as Old Faithful in full eruption, some as subtle but still striking as the cholla garden at Joshua Tree National Park.

Among those icons is the spreading cottonwood tree in front of Zion Lodge at Zion National Park in Utah. A Fremont cottonwood, it towers above the lodge and the nearby cabins and is a popular gathering place for both human visitors and turkeys that strut the lodge grounds. 

The species is tied to riparian areas, can grow to 115 feet tall or so, and grows pretty quickly, possibly reaching 100 feet in just 20 to 25 years, according to the U.S. Agriculture Department. According to the Monumental Trees webpage, the cottonwood in front of the lodge measured 82 feet back in 2014.

How old it might be is just a guess, though a "cultural landscape inventory" of Zion Canyon and the Zion Lodge said it's believed that cottonwoods and other species were planted around the lodge around 1925. This particular cottonwood was first mapped in a topographic map from 1934, according to that inventory.

This February 2018 photo shows just how large the cottonwood is compared to its surroundings/Rebecca Latson

Apparently, though, that majestic tree is nearing end of life.

"We aren’t sure on the timeline, but we do think the lodge tree is likely close to the end of its life," Ally O'Rullian, a communications specialist at the park, told us. "There are no plans at this time that involve cutting down the tree."

When the time does come for the tree's removal, it won't necessarily be the end of its line.

"Park staff have taken some cuttings from fallen branches in hopes of growing new genetically identical trees from the iconic lodge cottonwood once it dies. We have about 25 trees currently growing at the nursery with the hope that one will eventually replace the current tree," she added.

Some of the cottonwood saplings grown from cuttings off the Zion Lodge cottonwood/NPS