Zion Lodge is located in Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park is located in the Southwestern United States, near Springdale, Utah. A prominent feature of the park is Zion Canyon, which is 15 miles long and up to half a mile deep, cut through the reddish and tan-colored Navajo Sandstone by the North Fork of the Virgin River...

. The lodge was designed in 1924 as a compromise solution between its developer, the Utah Parks Company, which wanted a large hotel, and National Park Service

National Park Service

The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...

 director Stephen Mather, who desired smaller-scale development. The Utah Parks Company had been formed in 1923 as a subsidiary of the Union Pacific Railroad

Union Pacific Railroad

The Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....

, and was, like many similar programs, intended to stimulate passenger rail traffic to the national parks of southwest Utah

Utah

Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...

.

Gilbert Stanley Underwood

Gilbert Stanley Underwood

Gilbert Stanley Underwood was an American architect best known for his National Park lodges. Born in 1890, Underwood received his B.A. from Yale in 1920 and a M.A. from Harvard in 1923. After opening an office in Los Angeles that year, he became associated with Daniel Ray Hull of the National...

 designed the Zion Lodge as part of a series of similar structures for the Utah Parks Company at the north rim of the Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in the United States in the state of Arizona. It is largely contained within the Grand Canyon National Park, the 15th national park in the United States...

 and at Bryce Canyon National Park

Bryce Canyon National Park

Bryce Canyon National Park is a national park located in southwestern Utah in the United States. The major feature of the park is Bryce Canyon which, despite its name, is not a canyon but a giant natural amphitheater created by erosion along the eastern side of the Paunsaugunt Plateau...

. Underwood's design was more modest in scale and detailing than those at the Grand Canyon and Bryce, substituting milled lumber for whole logs in a "studs-out" style. Underwood used less stonework, in smaller pieces. The structures were designed to be more in keeping with the character of the valley floor, which at the time of construction was still inhabited by settlers. Underwood would go on to design all of the Utah Parks Company buildings in the valley, many of which are included in the Zion Lodge Historic District

Zion Lodge Historic District

The Zion Lodge Historic District surrounds the rustic lodge originally designed by Gilbert Stanley Underwood in Zion National Park. The lodge served as the center of a group of cabins, employee dormitories and support buildings which are included in the district. A swimming pool and bathhouse were...

, which surrounds the lodge.

A fire in 1966 destroyed the original lodge. It was rebuilt within 100 days, but the original rustic look was lost in favor of expedience in reopening the lodge. A 1990 remodel restored its original look.

In addition to the main lodge building there are a number of original buildings that remain in the lodge complex. This includes guest cabins built in 1927 and 1929, employee dormitories built in 1927 and 1937, and a few support buildings. All were designed by Underwood.

On April 12, 1995, a landslide blocked the Virgin River

Virgin River

The Virgin River is a tributary of the Colorado River in the U.S. states of Utah, Nevada, and Arizona. The river is about long. It was designated Utah's first wild and scenic river in 2009, during the centennial celebration of Zion National Park.-Course:...

downstream from the lodge. Over a period of two hours, the river had carved away 590 feet (180 m) of the only exit road from the canyon, trapping 450 guests and employees in the lodge. A one-lane temporary road was constructed within 24 hours to allow evacuation. Access to the lodge was restored on May 25, 1995.

External links

• Zion Lodge Virtual Tour. Virtual photo tour, history, more. Lots of photos.