56°F
weather icon Clear

Tourists flooding Zion National Park; visitation record shattered

SPRINGDALE, Utah — Zion National Park has set a new record for visitors in a single month.

National Park Service data shows the park saw nearly 676,000 visitors in June, topping the number during the same period in 2019 by a wide margin, the Spectrum newspaper reported.

In June 2019, the park saw 595,000 visitors. The number dipped in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic to about 377,000 visitors.

“We far surpassed our record,” Superintendent Jeff Bradybaugh told the Springdale Town Council.

Two other Utah parks, Canyonlands National Park and Capitol Reef National Park, saw their busiest June ever, with nearly 110,000 and 190,000 visitors respectively. Arches National Park temporarily delays entry almost daily now because of high visitation volumes but the official data hasn’t been released for June.

Utah parks have seen visitation rise steadily over the past decade, with some parks seeing their average annual attendance nearly double.

THE LATEST
Hamas says latest cease-fire talks have ended

The latest round of Gaza cease-fire talks ended in Cairo after “in-depth and serious discussions,” the Hamas terrorist group said Sunday.

Slow UCLA response to violence questioned

LOS ANGELES — On the morning before a mob attacked a pro-Palestinian student encampment at UCLA, campus Police Chief John Thomas assured university leadership that he could mobilize law enforcement “in minutes” — a miscalculation from the three hours it took to actually bring in enough officers to quell the violence, according to three sources.

Holy Fire ceremony marked amid war’s backdrop

JERUSALEM — Bells and clamor, incense and flames. One of the most chaotic gatherings in the Christian calendar is the ancient ceremony of the “Holy Fire,” with worshippers thronging the Church of the Holy Sepulcher on Saturday.