Zion National Park is grappling with an unprecedented challenge: how to manage the millions of visitors flocking to Utah’s crown jewel while preserving both the natural wonder and the visitor experience. With nearly 5 million visitors in 2024 and already nearly 3.5 million through August 2025, park officials are seriously considering implementing a reservation system as part of their comprehensive Visitor Use Management Plan.
The proposal has sparked significant debate between park officials and local leadership. Since 2016, rangers have been developing strategies to address overcrowding, with reservations emerging as a potential solution to control visitor flow and protect the park’s delicate ecosystem. However, the Washington County Commission has taken a firm stance against the idea, unanimously approving a resolution opposing any reservation requirement.
Local opposition and alternative solutions
Washington County leaders argue that a reservation system would devastate the local economy, pointing to similar systems at other parks like Arches National Park, which they claim have resulted in economic losses for surrounding communities. Commissioner Adam Snow expressed particular concern about access for local residents, fearing that nearby communities would lose priority access to their neighborhood natural treasure.
“What we’ve asked the park to do is say, give us time to use a scalpel on each one of those concerns and then see if it can work,” Snow explained. “You may not need the reservation system. I think we can address the visitor management concerns you have.”
Rather than implementing reservations immediately, county officials have proposed a series of alternative measures to address overcrowding. These include expanding parking facilities, enhancing shuttle service capacity, addressing chronic staffing shortages, and promoting lesser-visited areas like the park’s east side. Snow emphasized that these targeted solutions could potentially eliminate the need for reservations altogether.
The commissioner stressed that while county leadership isn’t opposed to reservations as a last resort, they believe the park service is rushing to implement the system as a first option rather than exploring other possibilities.
All while park funds slashed?
The situation is further complicated by broader funding challenges facing the National Park Service. Utah’s congressional delegation, including Senators Mike Lee and John Curtis, have supported measures that reduced funding for national parks, like in the “Big Beautiful Bill.” This creates a particularly challenging scenario: parks are expected to manage record-breaking visitor numbers with increasingly limited staff and resources.
The timing of these funding cuts makes the reservation debate even more complex, as park officials must balance visitor access with resource protection while operating with constrained budgets and staffing levels.
Park officials plan to present their draft Visitor Use Management Plan to the public for a comment period before year’s end. The National Park Service has emphasized that the planning process aims to balance visitor access with resource protection, and that public input will continue to shape the final plan.
As Zion continues to break visitation records, the debate reflects a broader challenge facing America’s most popular national parks: how to preserve these natural treasures for future generations while ensuring current visitors can experience their majesty. Whether through reservations, expanded infrastructure, or alternative management strategies, solutions will need to address both the practical realities of managing millions of annual visitors and the legitimate concerns of local communities whose economies depend on park tourism.
The coming months will be crucial as stakeholders work to find a path forward that protects both Zion’s natural resources and the communities that call this remarkable landscape home.