Grand Staircase is more than 12 times the size of Zion, yet it gets a fraction of the park’s visitors, recording just 959,234 in 2020. But that’s not for want of natural and historical wonders.

Grand Staircase is more than 12 times the size of Zion, yet it gets a fraction of the park’s visitors, recording just 959,234 in 2020. But that’s not for want of natural and historical wonders.

Given that Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Capitol Reef National Park, and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument are all within about 200 miles of each other, why not?

This week we launched our series on the controversial southern Utah monuments, plus how cyanobacteria still plague Zion National Park's Virgin River.

Given that Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Capitol Reef National Park, and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument are all within about 200 miles of each other, why not?