DIGS WE DUG
EAST ZION RESORT Lodging options near Zion National Park just got a lot more interesting
East Zion Resort yurts
16 | Vamoose Utah • April 2020
A yurt with two kingsize beds and a pullout couch
EAST ZION RESORT
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odging near the east entrance of Zion National Park is quieter and sleepier than at the park’s western gateway in Springdale. Most lodging on the east side has tended to be standard motel fair—cheap rooms with two queen beds and a bathroom, neighbors on either side of the wall as well as above or below you. But that standard is starting to change for the better, and East Zion Resort is a prime example. Located in the small town of Orderville—approximately 25 minutes from the east entrance to Zion and an hour from Bryce Canyon National Park—the resort consists of two properties. The first, known as the Escape, has six tiny homes and a treehouse built atop the stump of a 100-year old Cottonwood. All the tiny homes are connected to utilities, have two bedrooms, a kitchen and can accommodate up to five people. Four have a king-size bed and a loft with two twin beds. The other two, which are larger, have two king-size beds and furnished rooftop terraces. All have their own laundry facility. The owner, Micah Young, originally built these tiny homes on his property to supplement his income as a high school science teacher. The treehouse was built for his kids, but he soon realized there was a demand to rent it out, too. Young’s friend Aaron Bonham knew the Escape was special.
EAST ZION RESORT
BY JARED BLACKLEY
“It was a unique idea,” he says. “I believe it is the future of resort accommodations. It is luxury but [intended] for the average person, and it can accommodate a whole family.” After driving past Young’s property daily for several months, he decided to stop in and discuss the idea of a partnership and, he says, “taking this concept to the next level.” Bonham and Young bought a prime 10-acre property just
