lisatravels

For those of you leery of going to Zion and leaving your cars behind for the shuttle access only scenic route from April to October The Washington Post's featured story, "Park It...Then Park It" in Sunday's (July 3) Travel section was all about Zion's shuttle system. The author, Steve Hendrix, paints a highly favorable picture of the system and mentions how park officials from as far away from New Zealand come to check out the park's successful shuttle system. Since the shuttle started "Visitation hasn't declined, and the park reports that a whopping 98 percent of recorded comments are favorable." Even local businesses that were once worried the mandatory shuttle would deter visitors and hence hurt business are now in favor of it. The article also describes how bad the congestion and pollution were before the shuttle system was implemented. It looks like mandatory shuttle systems may be the wave of the future in national parks. It was nice to read about a system that has been such a popular success.

Dayle

Thanks for the note Lisa. I've been going to Zion all my life and have seen it pre-shuttle (nightmare) and with shuttle. The shuttles are the best thing to ever happen in Zion! All the smaller national parks should follow this example!

utahtea

Ditto what Dayle said! DH didn't think he would like the shuttle system, but we both LOVE it!

Utahtea

bigtyke

I too loved the shuttle. However, Zion canyon is a rather short trip, so you are never very far from your destination.

We were at Bryce before they use the shuttle. It is quite a bit larger and I am glad we were able to use a car. At a park like Yellowstone, it would be awful.

asdaven

That was a great article but they left out the Emerald Pools Trail. I am happy there is a shuttle, it sounds like a great system, I can't wait to check it out. I agree with the last post, Yellowstone is such a big park, a shuttle woudn't be a good idea, plus the traffic wasn't that bad when I was there last year except the spots they were doing road construction.

utahtea

Yosemite is a large park too, but they only have the shuttle system in the valley and it still optional. In Yosemite they just removed the parking area near Yosemite Falls so more people will want to use the shuttles. I could see where a shuttle system to the different geyser areas of Yellowstone would be helpful.

Utahtea

Dayle

I certainly agree that there are many large parks where geographically a shuttle wouldn't be practical. Personally, I won't return to Yosemite until the shuttle is mandatory....

utahtea

Dayle,

You don't have to give up Yosemite totally. Just go in April or October and make sure it's midweek.

Utahtea