Kane County looks to boost profile of east entry into Zion

Undated photo of the sign at the east entrance of Zion National Park, Utah | File photo, St. George News

SALT LAKE CITY — In 2019, more visitors drove, walked, and rode shuttles on the 27 miles of road in Zion National Park than on the 251 miles of road in Yellowstone.

These light sandstone formations along the Browse road are reminiscent of those in east side of Zion National Park, Browse, Utah, May 15, 2020 | Photo by Reuben Wadsworth, St. George News

That’s 4.5 million visitors in a narrow canyon with one road in and out, making Zion the most popular and the most crowded park in Utah.

And it’s not just limited road space.

Zion has one major visitor center, one lodge in the park, and a long string of businesses in the canyon-constrained corridor of Springdale at the Park’s main entrance.

Kane County Commissioner Brent Chamberlain told Fox13Now that he thinks he has a way to spread out the visitors and the wealth that comes from their visits: a big new visitor center, trail system, and transportation network at the park’s east entrance, where wide-open privately-owned land spread out on top of the plateau as cars approach the park boundary.

“We’re getting to the point where we hope we can start breaking ground later this year,” Chamberlain told FOX 13.

The project has been in the works for some time, with plans first revealed back in 2019.

He also says they have support from the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and Utah Clean Cities. That last group poised to help them create a new transportation authority to oversee a system of electric shuttles running from Kanab into the park from the east.

report just published by the Kem C. Gardner Public Policy Institute found the project likely to add over 450 jobs to the area each year and add almost 30 million dollars to the local economy annually. They also found that an improved eastern entrance would increase economic activity in Washington County, home to Springdale and the crowds in Zion Canyon.

Read the full story here:  Fox13Now.com.

Written by MAX ROTH, FOX13Now.com.

Copyright 2019, KSTU. A Tribune broadcasting station

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