UTAH
Some parts of Zion National Park offer peaceful scenery and fewer visitors.
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A ROAD LESS TRAVELED Despite growing crowds, you can still find solitude at Zion National Park
By Brian Passey
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ISITOR NUMBERS AT ZION National Park are skyrocketing, which often means long lines to enter the park, to board shuttles and even to access certain trails. In 2016, the park set a record with nearly 4.3 million visitors, 17 percent more than the previous record set in 2015. Jana Schleif of Marktoberdorf, Germany, spent a week this April exploring Zion with two friends. They happened to hit the park at the same time that many U.S. students were also visiting for spring break, resulting in massive crowds. The three Europeans managed to get the last spot at the campground and also faced overcrowding on the popular Angels Landing Trail, which follows a narrow ridge with steep drops on both sides to the top of a 1,488-foot-high sandstone cliff. Schleif says
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Today, most of the crowding is in the Zion she loved the view, but there were too many Canyon section, where hikers flock to people to fully enjoy the experience. popular trails like Angels “We started early, but Landing, Emerald Pools there were still a lot of and the Riverside Walk. people,” she says. “When In 2016, Zion Visitors generally stay we hiked down it was away from hikes longer very, very crowded.” National Park set a than 3 miles, he says. Joe Braun, a To avoid crowds, Braun photographer from Ann record with nearly suggests hiking longer, Arbor, Mich., has been 4.3 million visitors, less popular trails in Zion visiting Zion regularly Canyon like Sandbench since 1975 when he was a 17 percent more Loop or Hidden Canyon. child. He knows the park than the previous Outside of Zion Canyon, so well he has created there is hiking along a website dedicated to record of 3.6 trails such as Hop Valley hiking in it, offering more million set in 2015. and Northgate Peaks in than 70 detailed route the park’s Kolob Terrace descriptions. section. Braun says any Braun acknowledges hike in the Southwest that crowds have grown Desert section is likely to be free of people. tremendously since his first trips. In 1975, Schleif and her friends discovered that a little more than 1 million people visited.
in April as they backpacked through the Southwest Desert and camped out under the stars. “We enjoyed the silence and the nature,” she says. “We really enjoyed the mountains that had stripes of different colors. They were so beautiful.” While increased visitation to national parks is generally considered positive, Braun still worries about damage from those who appear to have less experience with the outdoors and concepts such as “leave no trace.” Visitors have left litter, stacks of rocks and even etched graffiti on canyon walls, he says. That makes the easily accessible areas of Zion feel more like a city. “As the park gets more and more crowded, I hope more resources can be spent to teach people about ‘leave no trace’ principles and basic respect for what is acceptable behavior on national park lands,” he says.
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