Zion Canyon National park is one of the most visited places in the country, and is recognized by most people from the southwestern portion of the United States as a “must see” area sooner or later. Zion is unlike most of the other parks that are in the general vicinity of Nevada, Arizona, California and Utah in that the majority of these parks are going to take roughly four hours to get to from the nearest major city. Zion on the other hand is only 2.5 hours from Las Vegas, which positions it perfectly for single day tours or multi-day tours that also involve other parks. Starting in Las Vegas makes sense for nearly any national park tour that involves southwestern parks, because Las Vegas itself is positioned in the general center of the desert. It was created as a stopover location for those who were traveling across the country and would need to cross the long and uninhabited stretches of the desert on their trip. Las Vegas was a valley that was positioned around the half-way point of the uninhabited areas of desert in between Arizona and California, so it grew in popularity as the area that would be perfect to stop and resupply or rest. This literally created a tourist town over time, as more and more hotels, restaurants and other necessities were necessary to cater to this group. Once gambling and other vices were legalized to cater to this crowd, the position of Las Vegas as the destination instead of the stopover was born. However the elements that made it function as a stopover never went away, so it is still appropriate to use the city for the needs that one has during a trip to other places like the nearby national parks. There are cheap flights going into and out of Las Vegas, as well as hotels and restaurants for all budgets. When you are going to fly into a city specifically to use it as the starting point for a trip to southwestern national parks, it makes sense to start here.
The reason Zion has become so much more popular than other local national parks probably has a lot to do with Las Vegas and it’s positioning. Because many people come to Las Vegas and plan a few days out of their trip to visit national parks, Zion would be the one of choice for those with limited time on their hands simply due to the fact that it is closer than all the rest. It can also be used on a multi-park tour as the first stop that leads to the next, because it is about half way between Las Vegas and Bryce Canyon. Those visiting multiple parks can make a sort of “tour loop” which saves on driving time by first going to Zion and then on to Bryce, Monument Valley and the Grand Canyon. All of these parks can be reached within about three hours of each other, but would take far longer to reach leaving from the closest city. Zion is a must-see park simply because it is beautiful, but also is the perfect first stop on any tour.