Zion
National Park History
Prior to 1908 the splendor of the Zion National Park area was known by a privileged few Native American Indians and early Mormon pioneer settlers. At that time the federal government had just completed a survey of the area. The findings of this survey were so impressive that they were brought to the attention of President William Howard Taft. In July 1909, Taft declared the more than 15,000 acres of the main canyon a National Monument called Mukuntuweap. Fewer than 1000 people were able to make the journey to Mukuntuweap National Monument during first ten years. This was due to the underdeveloped roads and distance from a railway station. Visitors to the area found the trip into Zion Canyon difficult, but once there they reported the canyon to be magnificent. The observations of these early visitors along with several informal reports commissioned by the federal government helped in the creation of the National Parks Service in August 1916.
By March 1918 the monument had grown to more 76,000 acres and had a name change. The area was now known as Zion National Monument. By November of 1919 the federal government had upgraded the area to National Park status. However, this new National Park did not see an increase in the number of visitor’s willing to, or able to make the difficult trip. At that time Stephen Mather was the director of the National Parks Service. Mather was awed by the splendor of Zion National Park and made at least 
one trip to the park each year from 1919 to 1929. Mather would often bring influential traveling companions along on his annual pilgrimage to Zion Canyon. During the 1921 trip, his companions included a writer from the Saturday Evening Post and a famous naturalist. The three began discussions of a tourist circle during a visit to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park. The tourist circle, which came to be known as the Grand Circle, takes visitors from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon to Bryce Canyon National Park, Cedar Breaks National Monument and Zion Canyon.
Working with the people from several communities located in the Zion National Park area, Mather was able to get roads within Washington County paved. He also worked with a local photographer, who had been hired by the Union Pacific Railroad to take and colorize photographs of Zion Canyon for use in advertising and to get a 5,613 foot tunnel built through the sandstone cliffs of Zion Canyon. The Zion/Mt. Carmel Tunnel and highway created a viable roadway to be used for touring the Grand Circle.
The Union Pacific Railroad saw the potential of the Southern Utah/Arizona area and created a subsidiary business called Utah Parks Company. The Utah Parks Company poured more that $1,700,000 into improvements in and around Zion National Park. Some 
of these improvements included laying track to Cedar City and the construction of a railway station, extensive advertising in popular magazines and the creation of a bus-touring service that transported visitors from Cedar City to Zion National Park as well as the other stops along the Grand Circle.
Today Zion National Park sees more than 2,500,000 visitors annually and provides Park Shuttles from several locations within the park and the local town of Springdale. The park has several pathways that provide easy walks and are wheelchair accessible. There are also many intermediate and expert trails available within Zion National Park and the rock climbing is simply unbelievable.
