Redesign Zion National Park's South Entrance To Get Vehicles In Faster

Above, the Zion-Mt. Carmel Tunnel from the east entrance. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Zion National Park is Utah's most popular national park, but this popularity is putting a major strain on the road from Springdale, Utah.

According to the St. George News:

ST. GEORGE — Hoping to reduce traffic in Springdale and get visitors into the park faster, the National Park Service is working on a redesign of Zion National Park’s south entrance. Proposed plans are currently open to public comment. 

Record amounts of visitors to the park have put a strain on existing infrastructure, leading to higher wait times to enter Utah’s most popular national park. 

On one of the park’s busiest days of the year in 2016, the South Entrance Fee Station had a demand of 324 vehicles per hour, but the current fee station configuration only allows for approximately 194 vehicles per hour to be processed. 

During the busiest times of the year, wait times on weekends and holidays can be as long as an hour as cars form half-mile-long lines extending into neighboring Springdale, resulting in both visitor frustration and large amounts of vehicle exhaust, according to the park service.

The last time we visited Zion National Park, we came in through the east entrance that took us through the Zion-Mt. Carmel Tunnel.

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