Zion National Park is undeniably beautiful with its sheer canyon walls, beautiful river meandering through it, and a wonderful variety of hikes. It’s this undeniable beauty that makes it popular. And by popular, I mean insanely popular. Like, third most-visited U.S. national park popular, only behind Great Smoky Mountain and Yellowstone National Parks. This seems like something that would convince you to pack your bags and go, but for us, I would say Zion’s popularity is vastly taking away from the magic that was the Zion National Park of the past. This was my third visit to Zion National Park. In fact, I often tell people that it was in Zion, on my first visit, that I originally fell head-over-heels for travel. As an 8-year-old girl I remember the feeling of being dwarfed by the canyon walls towering overhead while standing in the Virgin River at the mouth of The Narrows. This is one of those feelings that I still find myself searching for 23 years later. In 1998, about 2.3 million visitors visited Zion. In 2021, that number is set to double, if not more than double. And, unfortunately, it absolutely shows. In a park that’s significantly smaller than […]