How Utah’s National Park empire came to be

Rainbow Bridge National Monument Photo: NPS

Utah has a mini-empire of national parks.

With its world-famous Mighty Five—Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Arches, and Canyonlands—Utah has the third-most flagship national parks of any state, behind California and Alaska.

While these parks get the most attention, they are supplemented by a range of other locations designated for National Park Service protection and interpretation.

Some of these parks are older than the National Park Service itself, which was created in 1916. Here’s the complete timeline of Utah’s national parks.

Parks Before the Park Service

On April 16, 1908, Natural Bridges National Monument was created by president Theodore Roosevelt. It was created to preserve a scientific wonder, three massive stone spans in a remote corner of Southeast Utah.

One year later, on July 31, 1909, Mukuntuweap National Monument was proclaimed by William Taft. This indigenous name means “Straight Canyon” and was the name preferred by the renowned river-runner John Wesley Powell. In 1918, at the behest of Utah’s Latter-Day Saints community, the name was changed to Zion National Monument.

A year later, the monument was abolished and Zion National Park was created. In 1937, a new Zion National Monument was created to the northwest around Kolob Canyon. It was merged with the national park in 1956.

On May 30, 1910, Rainbow Bridge National Monument was established. Rainbow Bridge is sacred to local indigenous tribes, including the Navajo and Paiute.

The natural stone bridge is located in a rugged corner of Utah. It took the combined effort of multiple expeditions and guides to confirm its existence.

Less than a year before the creation of the National Park Service, on October 4, 1915, Dinosaur National Monument was established. It protects scientifically ground-breaking fossil remains in Northeastern Utah. It was expanded on July 14, 1948, to include the scenic confluence of the Green and Yampa Rivers.

The Era of Monuments

Throughout the early 1900s, as the American conservation movement thrived, every president between Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt took advantage of America’s most important conservation law: The Antiquities Act.

The law allows the president to set aside land controlled by the federal government for scenic, scientific, and cultural reasons as national monuments. With a vast acreage of public land, Utah’s unique landscape was the target of several presidential proclamations.

On October 14, 1922, Timpanogos Cave National Monument was designated to protect a scenic subterranean landscape not far from Salt Lake City and Provo. It was originally controlled by the US Forest Service, before being transferred to the NPS in 1933.

Seven months later, Hovenweep National Monument was created on March 2, 1923. It is one of many NPS sites that protects the history of the Ancestral Puebloan people, dating back thousands of years. It is the only NPS site that specifically protects the ancient history of Utah.

On June 8, President Warren G. Harding created Bryce Canyon National Monument—just weeks before his untimely death. It was re-designated as Bryce Canyon National Park in 1928.

Arches National Monument was the first NPS unit to be designated by president Herbert Hoover on April 12, 1929. In its early years, it had basically no visitor services. After gaining in popularity, it was re-designated Arches National Park in 1978.

Cedar Breaks National Monument was established on August 22, 1933. Prior to its national monument designation, it was developed alongside Zion, Bryce Canyon and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon to form a chain of scenic wonders to be visited via railroad and bus.

To the east, originally imagined as a state park called Wayne Wonderland, Capitol Reef National Monument was established on August 2, 1937. It was re-designated as a national park in 1971.

The Post-War Parks

During WWII, funding and visitation to America’s national parks declined. Despite this, Utah’s scenic, historic and recreational resources still demanded enough attention to be designated as units in the national park system.

On September 12, 1964 Canyonlands National Park was created as a scaled-down version of a much larger national monument proposed in the 1930s. The effort to establish the park was spearheaded by Arches Superintendent Bates Wilson, who personally led jeep tours through the canyons.

A year later on July 30, 1965 Golden Spike was established as Utah’s first and only National Historic Site. It commemorates the completion of the Transcontinental Railway, one of the most important sites in western and transportation history.

In 1963, the Glen Canyon Dam began backing up the Colorado River and inundating the Glen Canyon. On October 27, 1972 the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area was established to provide recreational opportunities on the waters of Lake Powell.

A Full Range of National Parks

While many people associate the work of the National Park Service with natural landscapes, endangered species, and outdoor adventures, its mission is much broader.

Utah’s pantheon of parks encapsulates the full range of what the NPS has to offer, from recreational opportunities in Glen Canyon National Recreation area to scientific interpretation at Dinosaur National Monument to historic preservation at Golden Spike National Historic Park.

By Will De Man for National Park Explorer