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- Zion National Park's bridge to the Emerald Pools Trail system has reopened after a two-year closure.
- The bridge was relocated due to landslide-induced foundation instability and safety concerns.
- Construction was funded by park entrance and other fees.
SPRINGDALE, Washington County — A bridge connecting Zion Lodge to one of Zion National Park's more popular trail systems is now open in a slightly new location. The opening ends two years of detours in the area after the old bridge became hazardous.
The bridge linking to the Emerald Pools Trail network reopened this week, helping visitors cross the Virgin River.
"Reopening this bridge restores a critical connection to one of Zion's most iconic trail systems," said Jeff Bradybaugh, the park's superintendent, in a statement on Tuesday. "We appreciate our visitors' patience and support as we worked to ensure this structure can safely serve future generations."
The old bridge, installed in 1983, was removed in 2023 after National Park Service and Federal Highway Administration engineers determined that it was shifting on its foundation, rendering it unsafe for use. The bridge itself was in good condition, but a nearby landslide that happened near it destabilized both the attachment to its concrete abutments and the ground underneath, said Malynn Marshall, engineering technician at Zion National Park, in a park video explaining the project.
This forced crews to find a new place for the bridge, which they found about 100 feet upstream. Crews installed the new abutments far enough from the river so that erosion might not create the same problem again.
Since the old bridge was in good condition, the park was able to keep it. It was installed at its new location last month.
"(It's) a great thing for us because we get to keep this piece of history that's been in our park for many, many years," Marshall said.
Construction to stabilize the area and install a new bridge led to a rerouted trail that was in place for two years. That's now lifted, and visitors once again have easier access to the network from the Zion Lodge.
The project cost was covered by entrance and recreation fees, park officials added.
Its reopening comes as Zion National Park attendance has started to soar once again. Nearly 5 million people visited the park in 2024, marking its second-busiest year on record. Over 1.8 million people have already visited this year, according to preliminary data updated through May, which is up 7% from the first five months of last year.
The Emerald Pools Trail network is one of its most popular features. Still, landslides and other issues related to the park's shifting landscape have created additional visitor challenges in the past. For example, mudslides in 2010 led to a decade's worth of construction along the Middle Emerald Pools Trail, which concluded in 2020.
