A Zion Overview By: Brian Schmarje

[A]pproximately 2.5 million people visit Zion National Park each season. Twenty to twenty-five percent of those people are international visitors.

Zion is unique in its close proximity to two other national parks, located between Bryce Canyon and the Grand Canyon in a series of stair-stepped plateaus known as the Grand Staircase. …

There is evidence dating back 9,000 years of Indian groups who once inhabited the area which is now Zion National Park. Petroglyphs, which were chiseled into the rock, still remain. The first known people to inhabit the area of Zion were referred to as the Basket Makers. At some point, their lifestyle became more stationary. Around that time, the Anasazi, or the Ancestral Puebloans, appeared. They grew corn, squash, and beans along the banks of the Virgin River. The Anasazi inexplicably left the area around 1200 AD. Inhabiting the area at the same time as the Anasazi was another cultural group called the Fremont Culture. They also left the area around 1200 AD. …

The park is home to more than 900 plant species, 78 species of mammals, 290 species of birds, 44 species of reptiles and amphibians and eight species of fish. Some of these are on the endangered species list, including the Mexican Spotted Owl, Southwest Willow Flycatcher and Desert Tortoise. Rare species include the Zion Snail, Virgin Spinedace and the Peregrine Falcon. According to Terry, approximately 20 to 30 mountain lions roam the park.