ENTRANCE FEES
Entrance fee's for the parks in the area are as follows:
Grand Canyon North Rim - $20.00
Zion Canyon - $20.00. There is a $10.00 escort fee for larger vehicles. i.e.; motor homes, coaches, travel trailers.
Bryce Canyon - $20.00, or $15.00 if you park and take the Shuttle. (May 15 - Sept. 30). $10.00 in the off-season, no shuttle.
Lake Powell - $10.00
NATIONAL PARK PASSES
1) The National Park Pass gives unlimited entrance into all National Parks in the United States for one year from the time of purchase. It also admits the cardholder into National Monuments and Recreation areas administered by the National Park Service. This includes Lake Powell, Cedar Breaks, and Pipe Spring. The cost is $50.00 and the pass is not transferable. It admits the owner and other passengers where per-vehicle entrance is charged. Where per-person fees are charged, it allows the owner, spouse, children, and parent admission.
2) The Golden Eagle Pass is sold for $65.00 and allows the buyer additional access to all federal fee areas.
3) The Golden Age Pass is a lifetime, one-time fee, for US residents only, aged 62 and older.
4) The Golden Access pass is a free lifetime pass for the permanently disabled and for US residents only. All permits can be purchased at any National Park entrance station, or on line for a service charge. The National Park Pass is cost effective if you are planning on visiting three or more parks on your trip (and remember it's good for one year in the US).
GRAND CANYON - Click Here to learn about the Grand Canyon
ZION NATIONAL PARK
Zion National Park is a myriad of deep sandstone canyons, which extend over 30 miles from end to end and covers 229 square miles. The Zion Canyons were named by early Mormon settlers (members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) and many of the formations in the park have names from the bible. The park was established in 1909 as Mukuntuweap National Monument and expanded in 1919 to Zion National Park. The park is composed mostly of sandstone stained by the oxidizing of iron in the rock. Zion National Park with its many canyons contains 75 species of mammals, 271 birds, 32 reptiles and amphibians and 8 fish in the streams and rivers, which have carved these canyons.
Protected within Zion National Park is a spectacular cliff-and-canyon landscape and wilderness full of the unexpected including Kolob Arch - the world's largest arch - with a span that measures 310 feet. Zion National Park is full of beautiful colors, scenery and wildlife. Wildlife such as mule deer, golden eagles, and mountain lions, also inhabit the Park. The sandstone which makes up most of the rock in Zion National Park was formed by the compacting of sand about 150 million years ago. This occurred when cementing properties of compounds such as calcium carbonate compacted the sand which covered the huge desert of the west.
Dunes were at that timed formed into the present day Navajo Sandstone. The next stage of creation occurred starting close to 4 million years ago when streams running of the Colorado Plateau caused the Virgin River to flood. As the river flowed through the current Zion, it eroded the rock away taking boulders, sand, and pebbles with it. Over time it formed, or rather carved the canyon we see today.
BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK
Bryce Canyon National Park is located in southern Utah on the eastern side of the Paunsaugunt Plateau in Garfield County. Settlement of the area began in 1874. Ebenezer Bryce moved from Pine Valley and settled a site near the mouth of Bryce Canyon in 1875. Bryce used the now famous canyon as a cattle range, and it was given his name as early as 1876. Bryce Canyon is a series of natural amphitheaters below which stands an array of white and orange limestone columns and walls sculptured by erosion. The erosion has been accomplished mainly by rain, snow, and frost prying off cliff fragments rather than by stream erosion. Nearby streams actually flow away from the canyon. The high rim country of the park is part forest dominated by fir, pine, and aspen, and part meadows of grass and sage. At lower, drier altitudes, pinon pine and Utah juniper predominate.
Geologically, the rocks of the canyon are among the youngest of the Colorado Plateau. Despite the fragile nature of the environment, there are many miles of foot and horse trails below the rim. A twenty-mile paved highway runs along the edge of the rim. Overlooks provide magnificent views of the natural structures carved by erosion into fanciful forms that glow in delicate and varied colors. In 1919 the Utah state legislature asked Congress to create Bryce National Monument, which was done in 1923. The Union Pacific railroad acquired a state school section on the rim and began developing campgrounds, cabins, a lodge, and improved access to the Canyon. In 1928 Bryce Canyon was removed from Forest Service jurisdiction and made Bryce Canyon National Park. Later 12,000 additional acres were added to create what is now a 37,277-acre park that attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors each year from throughout the world to marvel at its unique beauty.
LAKE POWELL NATIONAL RECREATION AREA
(Glen Canyon National Recreation Area):
On the 15th. of October 1956 President Dwight D. Eisenhower pressed a button at his desk in the White House and initiated the blast that began the construction of the Glen Canyon Dam just eight miles south of the Utah border in Arizona. When completed this dam backed up the flows of the Colorado and San Juan rivers 186 miles and 72 miles respectively, thus creating 1,960 miles of shoreline and one of the largest man-made lakes in the United States.
Work crews founded the town of Page, Arizona, which soon became a city serving the needs of travelers. Today, the hydroelectric dam sends its power throughout the West. Rainbow Bridge, a rock arching span of 278 feet is located in a side canyon on the East side of the lake and is the largest natural rock bridge in the world.
PIPE SPRINGS NATIONAL MONUMENT
An oasis in the desert Pipe Spring was set aside in 1923 by the U.S. Government as a National Monument. The area surrounding Pipe Spring was once inhabited by ancestral Puebloan Indians and more recently populated by a band of the Paiute Indian Tribe. These people were the first to be drawn here by the four springs in the immediate area.
Later, Mormon settlers, attracted by and grasslands and available water called Pipe Spring home and established a ranching operation. At one time the grass in the area was said to have grown "belly high to a horse." Today, visitors can tour the remains of this Mormon cattle ranch established in the late nineteenth century. A fully furnished historic fort, Winsor Castle, allows visitors to step back in time and relive Mormon pioneer life.
CORAL PINK SAND DUNES
Coral Pink Sand Dunes is located eleven miles north of Kanab, Utah on US 89. This state park is open all year and is a wide-sweeping expanse of coral-colored sand. You can hike, take photos, camp, ride ATV’s and dune buggies, or just relax in the sand.
One of the favorite getaway spots for "the locals", Coral Pink Sand Dunes is a favorite spot for hiking and photography. Sunrise and sunset photography is simply spectacular here! The Park is open all year 'round, but spring and fall are the best seasons for hiking and photography.
For Off-Road Enthusiasts, there are 1,000 acres of play area, and hundreds of miles of trails in the vicinity of the Park. Since regulations concerning off-road vehicles are changing in this area, be sure to contact the Ranger Station for the latest news of open trails.
