Zion National Park Topped 5 Million Visitors In 2021

Above, The Watchman at Zion National Park. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Utah's Zion National Park was one of several national parks that set visitation records in 2021.

Although it is nice that people are enjoying the parks, it comes with a price. Zion is a relatively small park in comparison to Yellowstone and Grand Canyon National parks, among others.

Too many people in such a small area is not conducive to an enjoyable visit. I, for one, tend to avoid crowds. 

According to East Idaho News:

SPRINGDALE, Utah (KSL.com) — The numbers are in and Zion National Park officially joined rare company in 2021.

Visitation at the park topped 5 million for the first time ever in 2021, according to data released by the National Park Service late last week. The agency’s information shows Zion is the fourth national park to ever reach that figure, joining the Grand Canyon, Great Smoky Mountains and Yosemite national parks.

Zion National Park was also the second-most visited park in the National Park Service system last year with a final tally of 5,039,835 visitors. It broke its previous park visitation record — over 4.5 million visitors set in 2017 — back in October.

It’s one of the four Utah national parks that broke visitation records last year. All but Bryce Canyon National Park set records in that category, and the five parks combined for a record-breaking 11.3 million visitors in 2021. The final figure is a 45% increase from the 2020 total, which dropped as a result of COVID-19 shutdowns, concerns and travel restrictions.

It’s also about a 7% increase from the record of 10.6 million set in 2019.

Yet the National Park Service figures indicate that Zion’s and Utah’s records aren’t alone. It appears that interest in national parks seems to be growing everywhere.

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