The Bureau of Land Management has approved a plan that largely ends dispersed camping along State Route 9 in Utah, near Zion National Park. Announced on March 23, the policy aims to address environmental damage and high visitor demand: the park sees about 5 million annual visitors, with only three campgrounds totaling fewer than 300 sites. Under the plan, free camping will be banned on nearly 1,400 acres of BLM land, leaving 30 designated dispersed sites (down from 56) and two proposed campgrounds — Flagstone Quarry with 150 sites and Gooseberry Mesa with 80 — though funding for these is not yet secured.
