Zion National Park stunned visitors recently when it stopped issuing permits for one of its bucket-list hikes, the 16-mile slot-canyon journey through the Zion Narrows, after the family that owns land the route crosses posted signs indicating access was subject to “trespassing fees.”
The closure soon was lifted when Washington County reached an agreement with the landowners, but this issue could spring up again and again across Utah where trails cross private property en route to popular destinations, especially along the Wasatch Front.
For the past 20 years, for instance, northern Utah’s ever-popular Bonneville Shoreline Trail has cut through the King family’s land at the mouth of Ogden Canyon, where the Kings’ Rainbow Gardens gift shop and restaurant have served as a trailhead and parking area.