Environment

For Small Towns, National Parks Are a Buoy and a Burden

Visitors are flocking to the vistas and valleys. That’s not always great news for the tiny cities near the entrance.
State Road 9 passes through Utah's Zion National Park.Charles Platiau/Reuters

Imagine you’re about to take a road trip that you’ve been planning for months, to one of the most iconic places in the West: Utah’s Zion National Park, home to towering sandstone cliffs and lush, hanging gardens suspended between the canyon’s fortress walls.

As you drive toward the destination, you’re greeted by Zion’s looming formations in the distance. The cliffs keep getting bigger and bigger until you round a bend in the highway, and your view is absolute splendor. Zion Canyon stretches before you in all its glory, and sitting at the gateway is the cutest little town you’ve ever seen—Springdale, population 570.