New East Entrance Visitor Center at Zion National Park will ‘extend visitor experience,’ ease pressure

ST. GEORGE — The new East Entrance Visitor Center to Zion National Park will ease some of the pressure off the park, with groundbreaking scheduled for fall 2022. 

The East Entrance to Zion National Park in the 1930s, Zion National Park, Utah, date unspecified | Photo provided by the Zion Forever Project, St. George News

The new visitor center will be built beyond the park gates on the upper east side near state Route 9. It will sit on the eastern-most point of the Zion Park Scenic Byway, a 57-mile stretch that runs east and west through Zion National Park, between Exit 16 on Interstate 15  and the eastern junction with U.S. Route 89.

The addition of the visitor center will serve multiple vital purposes, park officials said.

“The programs of this site will complement what’s happening in the Zion Canyon Visitor Center and the programs in Zion National Park,” Mark Preiss, director of Zion Forever Project, said. “The idea is that we’re not being duplicative here; what we’re doing is extending that visitor experience.”

The hope is the new visitor center will take some of the pressure off the park by educating visitors about the surrounding areas. The center will offer important stories about the park and discuss adjacent wilderness study areas and the other lands next to the park. Recently Zion National Park hit a record 5 million visitors for one year.

Zachary Almaguer, Zion Forever Project communications manager, said landowners near the park recently approved additional easements to help push the project forward. The easements were acquired as conservation and trail easements.

The two primary landowners the project has secured easements from are Kevin McLaws, the owner of Zion Mountain Ranch, and Steve Neeleman, the owner of the Zion Ponderosa. The McLaws family donated the 20 acres that will be the new East Entrance Visitor Center site.

A rendering of the walkway leading into the new visitor center, which may take some of the pressure off Zion National Park by educating visitors about the surrounding areas, Zion National Park, Utah, unspecified date | Photo provided by the Zion Forever Project, St. George News

Almaguer said the conservation easements secure the development rights to ensure no future incompatible developments are made. The trail easements guarantee the public right of way on the donated and acquired lands where the mountain bike trails will be located. 

“It is a complicated project with many partners,” Preiss said. “We’re very pleased to see that it is moving forward. It’s a public-private partnership. The visitor center is on land that will be donated for this purpose that’s privately held right now.” 

Added Jonathan Shafer, Zion National Park public affairs specialist: “We are glad to be able to engage in discussions on future developments with our partners at Zion Forever as well as our neighbors and other stakeholders.” 

The East Entrance Visitor Center will not be owned or operated traditionally. Preiss said the Zion Forever Project would run it on behalf of the park and the other partners. The Zion Forever Project will develop and provide interpretive materials, books, maps, posters and educational items. They will sell the products at the visitor center and the profits go back into supporting projects in the park.

The Zion Forever Project is a nonprofit partner and community-based group helping the federal agency do things it can’t do by itself, Preiss said.

“Generally speaking, nationwide parks are not getting new visitor centers approved,” Preiss said. “The parks have 10s of millions of dollars in deferred maintenance issues; there are a lot of challenges right now within the park service.” 

The land easements approved near the visitor center will protect the area from future development and historic views from potential development, Preiss said. In addition, there is a future plan for a trail system to connect the whole area. The easement connects to the bison preserve adjacent to Zion Mountain Ranch. Some of the other parcels on the east side, including Oroville Gulch, will also connect to the future trails. There will be additional access to the narrows from that side.

“The land is conserved for its historic viewshed values,” Preiss said. “But some of it, as we go forward, will also be protected as agricultural and working lands, especially those adjacent to the visitor center. And so as we move forward into phase two and phase three, we’re already moving into trying to protect several additional 100 acres.” 

Lyman Hafen, executive director of the Zion Forever Project, said the new center also would have information about Native Americans who were the area’s first inhabitants.

“Among the top two or three interpretive themes for this visitor’s center will be the Native American story, Hafen said. “It is a top priority for this visitor center. We’re still in that interpretive planning process as to how it will eventually be manifested, but rest assured that the Native American story is a top priority here.”  

Hafen encourages the public to get involved with Zion Forever. Click here to access a copy of the new Field Guide or request a copy by emailing info@zionpark.org or calling 435-772-3264.

 “The relationships we have developed with our park partners and community are the defining elements of our past success,” Hafen said. “As we continue forever looking to the future, those relationships and our shared passion will remain our formula for success. I encourage everyone to find a project within this guide and discover how they can become a part of the solution.”

Photo Gallery

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!