Are you heading for Utah's National Parks?

[garyhaupt]

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/arches-national-park-visitors-overcrowding/index.html

Gary Haupt

[mbopp]

We did Arches, Zion, Canyonlands, and Bryce in May, and people were being turned away at Arches then. We would get up at 5:00AM to beat the crowds and get our hiking in before it got hot and crowded.

[mr_andyj]

so, is Zion open now?

[vermilye]

A flash flood at Zion on June 29th (some rough language...) YouTube video

[frankwp]

Southern Utah has been one of our favorite destinations for decades & I don't have any one that's a favorite. They're all fantastic & spectacular in their own ways. One year at Zion we were well into the narrow when there was a massive thunderstorm & flood, but we were high enough to be safe, just. The cliffs all around looked like they had sand pouring off them. A parks worker we spoke with said it's rare to get to experience that because they close the trail at the first hint of approaching rain. They had closed it just minutes after we started the hike.

[rexlion]

I still prefer Arches over Zion by a wide margin. Hiking the Narrows was the highlight of my two brief Zion visits, but there are other slot canyons with less people. The scenery at Arches is spectacular IMO.

[jdc1]

valhalla360 wrote:

jdc1 wrote:

PartyOf Five wrote:
Definitely suggest skipping Zion and going closer to winter. It's an urban nightmare: crowds, traffic, lines everywhere.
There are so many alternate options vs the big names. I'd send everyone to Canyonlands too.

We couldn't even get in last fall. If you wait until AFTER 3pm, your chances are better.

Last fall was a good time to go. You just had to get reservations. We did a couple days out.

They litterally ripped out every other seat on the shuttle busses, so it acted to limit crowds.

That explains the crowding reasons. Covid protocol. Having to remove the seats makes sense, since a lot of people can't seem to follow simple directions for their own safety. Thanks for the clarification.

[valhalla360]

jdc1 wrote:

PartyOf Five wrote:
Definitely suggest skipping Zion and going closer to winter. It's an urban nightmare: crowds, traffic, lines everywhere.
There are so many alternate options vs the big names. I'd send everyone to Canyonlands too.

We couldn't even get in last fall. If you wait until AFTER 3pm, your chances are better.

Last fall was a good time to go. You just had to get reservations. We did a couple days out.

They litterally ripped out every other seat on the shuttle busses, so it acted to limit crowds.

[craig7h]

We were at the Utah parks this past mid May and found them filling up then. We entered the line to get into Zion at 830am and was the last car. All the others we had no problem, just lucky I guess.

As I saw it, parking was the problem. All of the parking places for the major sights were just not big enough to handle the crowd. The small pull over sights were always empty so no problem.

I do not see the problem going away until someone comes up with a good fix. If they went to shuttles the welcome center parking lots are not large enough. Hope fully time will tell and folks again will be able to enjoy our great national parks.

[jdc1]

PartyOf Five wrote:
Definitely suggest skipping Zion and going closer to winter. It's an urban nightmare: crowds, traffic, lines everywhere.
There are so many alternate options vs the big names. I'd send everyone to Canyonlands too.

We couldn't even get in last fall. If you wait until AFTER 3pm, your chances are better.

[Lwiddis]

Not until the kids are back in school and families at home.

[Grit_dog]

Can’t say I’ve personally seen much or any park/campground new construction in idk, forever? And I sort of watch the WA state parks advance schedule of contracts for projects to bid. (Not parks, but sometimes they have heavy civil type projects) Dont recall ever seeing a “new” state park.

[Ron3rd]

PartyOf Five wrote:
Definitely suggest skipping Zion and going closer to winter. It's an urban nightmare: crowds, traffic, lines everywhere.
There are so many alternate options vs the big names. I'd send everyone to Canyonlands too.

I agree with you on Zion currently, but if you ever get the opportunity to explore Zion on an off month, it's the best park in Utah IMO.

[PartyOf_Five]

Definitely suggest skipping Zion and going closer to winter. It's an urban nightmare: crowds, traffic, lines everywhere.
There are so many alternate options vs the big names. I'd send everyone to Canyonlands too.