Headaches, politics, and compromise: How Utah got into Zion

CEDAR CITY, Utah (VN) — As the Tour of Utah rolled past the Zion National Park gates early Monday morning, race organizers hugged and gave each other high fives. The race has skirted around Utah’s five national parks in previous editions, however it had never passed directly into one until this year.

In fact, Monday’s stage marked a first for American bicycle racing. Races have passed through areas controlled by the National Park Service — the Coors Classic famously passed through the Colorado National Monument in the 1980s. But before Monday, no major stage race had ridden through a national park’s front gate.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime type thing,” said Jim Birrell, managing partner for Medalist Sports, which operates the race.

Gaining access to Zion was not easy. It involved a painstaking three-year process wrought with political wrangling, financial compromises, and last-minute problems. In the end, the race was allowed to pass through a 12.1-mile section of road, which included the historic Zion-Mt. Carmel tunnel.

The peloton was forbidden from attacking along the route, and instead proceeded in a neutral procession, per the request of the National Park Service (NPS). The race made other concessions along the way.

Despite the concessions, management is adamant that the plan was worth the headaches.

“We’re pleasantly surprised we were able to make it happen,” said Jenn Andrs, executive director for the race. “We took the process slowly and carefully.”

A plan to get to Zion

Both Andrs and race owner Steve Miller said that Zion had been on their wish list for multiple years. The process was officially launched after the race’s 2013 edition, which passed through a short segment of Bryce Canyon National Park and Cedar Breaks National Monument.

Todd Hageman, the race’s technical director, reached out to his contacts at Zion National Park, hoping that the race’s experience with Bryce National Park would open the door.

“We threw the idea out there like maybe in a couple of years we could make it happen, knowing that it would be difficult,” Hageman said. “Zion never explicitly said ‘No,’ and kept the door open.”

Gaining access to a U.S. National Park is infamously challenging for large-scale commercial events like the Tour of Utah. The U.S. National Park Service occasionally grants special-use permits for events. Each year, the parks host 10 or so marathons and smaller running races. Other races have not been as lucky. In 2011 the USA Pro Challenge was denied access to the Colorado National Monument.

After a year of dialogue with Zion, the Tour of Utah’s Zion plan gained a political ally when Utah Rep. Chris Stewart backed …

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