Potential Threats to Your Zion Activities

In 2017, more than four million people participated in Zion activities on their vacation to Southern Utah.  Numbers are strong for the other US parks as well; however, tourists are staying longer, which is both good and bad.  Longer stays in national parks means a boost to local businesses, like gas stations, hotels, restaurants, and gift shops.  But it also makes more opportunity for the masses to mistreat and damage these precious natural resources. This article presents some important recommendations for your Zion activities.

Large Crowds Damage National Parks

If changes aren’t made soon, the national parks could deteriorate to the point of minimizing or ending your Zion activities.  For this reason, the National Park Service is considering a requirement that people make reservations before visiting the parks.  A reservation policy would regulate numbers of visitors so that park rangers can better monitor behaviors in the park, such as wandering off marked trails and vandalizing park features.  Zion National Park has roughly twenty-five miles of trails developed by the Park Service, but visitors have trampled about 600 miles of their own trails, leaving damage to vegetation, wildlife, and soil.  Park abuse has been a problem, changing the park’s beauty for current and future visitors.

What to do Before Your National Park Vacation

When planning your Zion activities in Southern Utah, be sure to address the following:

1. Call the Park Service a few weeks in advance to share your intentions and timetable, and make a reservation if it’s requested.  Ask for any useful information that would improve your Zion activities and protect the park’s resources.
2. Research websites and ask hiking experts about how to prepare for your Zion activities, with regard to hiking shoes, boots, clothing for hot or inclement weather; which hikes are easy, moderate, and strenuous; first-aid kits, cell phone use, sun-block lotions, nutritious snacks, and water.
3. Explain to your group how rare and magnificent the national parks are and that taking or vandalizing the park’s artifacts or features is not only illegal, but also diminishes the experience for future generations.  Things, such as bathing or washing clothes in the Virgin River, contaminate the water, which affects wildlife and vegetation.
4. Be sure to check weather forecasts for rain, snow, or wind.  Bad weather can not only dampen your Zion activities but also make them dangerous.  Trails get slippery, and flash floods have swept away people in the narrow canyon hikes.  Cold is a problem, too, if you’re not prepared with insulative gear.

What NOT to Do:

1. Don’t let members of your party wander off trails.
2. Don’t knock rocks off cliffs.
3. Don’t embark without water, snacks, and first-aid supplies.
4. Don’t litter in the park.
5. Don’t encourage inscriptions of “Patty loves John” on rock faces.
6. Don’t harass wildlife, especially Sasquatch.
7. Don’t wash clothes in the river.
8. Don’t take artifacts out of the park.

Your Zion activities are sure to be fun and recuperative, if you follow the recommendations.  Closing a national park would be a shame. Please act responsibly by preserving them for future generations to enjoy.

Potential Threats to Your Zion Activities

Article By: Clear Content Marketing