More than 1 million of those have come since May 1, as the park is on pace for its best summer since the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it’s still up 6% from the first six months of 2019, showing that visitation is still higher than it once was.Ĭlose to 1.4 million people have already visited Bryce Canyon National Park during the first seven months of this year, too. Zion National Park recorded more than 2.1 million visitors between January and June this year, which is a 10% drop-off from the same period of time last year and a 16% decrease from the park’s record-breaking 2021 season, according to park visitation data. “These funds help us maintain essential facilities like restrooms and drinking water systems, rehabilitate campsites and ensure rangers are available to patrol trails, canyoneering routes and other wilderness areas.” “Fee dollars do great things for visitors,” said Zion National Park superintendent Jeff Bradybaugh, in a statement. Zion officials add that surging visitation led to an “increased need” for facility maintenance services, like cleaning restrooms, removing trash and road repairs. Bryce Canyon, for example, says 80% of its fee revenues go into trail rehabilitation, campground picnic table replacement, shuttle system operation and other similar projects. The collected fees are used to help with park upkeep, officials from both parks say. If approved by the respective parks, the new fees would take effect at the start of 2024. All group sites would be charged $7 per person per night, as opposed to the current system which charges $15 to $25 depending on the group size. Under the plan, both walk-up permits and advanced reservations would cost $20 per reservation, up from zero to $5 in cost, respectively. The website would hold all the necessary seasonal lotteries, advance day use, daily lottery and walk-up permits will be available for day and overnight uses, including overnight camping at Wilderness campsites. Zion is seeking to move its Wilderness Recreation Permit system from a third-party contractor to, which has some additional campsite changes. Park officials are also proposing a new $5 fee for RV travelers who use Watchman and South campground dump sites but don’t stay at the sites. Electric campsites at Watchman Campground would be raised from $30 per night to $45 per night, under the plan. Meanwhile, the cost of nonelectric campsites at South and Watchman campgrounds would be set at $35 per night, and Lava Point campsites would be set at $25 per night.
That system will remain unchanged at the North Campground during the winter months. Sunset Campground, which is closed during the winter, currently operates on a first-come, first-served system.
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