Grotto Camping Ground North Comfort Station

The Grotto Camping Ground North Comfort Station is located in Zion National Park in Washington County, Utah and was added to the National Historic Register (#86003705) on February 14, 1987.

Zion Lodge Historic District

The Zion Lodge Historic District is significant for its historic association with the development of the “Rustic Style” architecture in the National Park Service during the 1920’s. The complex was designed by one of the leaders of “Rustic Style” architecture, Gilbert Stanley Underwood. In 1919, the Mukuntuweap National Monument was enlarged and the name changed to Zion National Park. Previous to gaining park status, accommodations for tourists were provided by Wylie Camping Company. The Wylie Camps, popular in other western national parks, gave the tourists a “camping experience” complete with tent-style living. The Union Pacific Railroad secured the concessions contract for Zion National Park and formed the Utah Parks Company to plan, build, and maintain the concession developments. The Union Pacific Company retained Gilbert Stanley Underwood to design the Zion Lodge Complex. Underwood is credited with the design of Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood, the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite, the Grand Teton Lodge, Wyoming, the Bryce Canyon Lodge, and the Williamsburg Lodge in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Between 1900 – 1940, the use of “Rustic Style” architecture was popular in the western national parks. The style was characterized by the use of native materials to blend with the rugged landscapes, and the careful use of scale and design to make the building compatible with the natural environment. The “Rustic Style” of architecture of Gilbert Stanley Underwood is one of the most important and lasting contributions of the Utah Parks Company to Zion National Park. The “Rustic Style” of Underwood served as a model for the later construction in the park, particularly during the New Deal of the 1930’s. The Male Dormitory in the Zion Lodge Complex is an example of Underwood’s style being followed.

The original Zion Lodge Complex consisted of the Zion Lodge, the Bathhouse and Swimming Pool, the Female Dormitory, Comfort Station, Linen Cabins, Deluxe Cabins, and the Standard Cabins. The original Zion Lodge burned in 1966 and was replaced in 1966 by a prefabricated building placed on the original lodge’s foundation. The Bathhouse and Swimming Pool were removed in 1976. The Standard Cabins were the first attempt by the Utah Parks Company for accommodations in the lodge complex and were augmented by the Deluxe Cabins over the following four years. The Standard Cabins were designed for a 20 year structural life.

In 1937, the Male Dormitory was built following the design set by Gilbert Stanley Underwood in the previous decade. The “Rustic Style” architecture of Gilbert Stanley Underwood as exemplified by the Zion Lodge complex can also be seen at Bryce Canyon National Park.

The Zion Lodge Historic District is located in Zion National Park in Washington County, Utah and were added to the National Historic Register (#82001718) on August 24, 1982.

Grotto Camping Ground South Comfort Station

This comfort station, the more southern of the two in the Grotto Picnic Area, is the oldest extant comfort station in the Park. Built at an original cost of $1,500 one year after the Grotto Residence was built, it was remodeled in 1959 by Park maintenance crews. Like the nearby residence, it is an excellent example of the massive, heavily rusticated style found in structures built in Zion in the 1920s.

The Grotto Camping Ground South Comfort Station is located in Zion National Park in Washington County, Utah and was added to the National Historic Register (#86003704) on February 14, 1987.

Cable Mountain Draw Works

The Cable Mountain Draw Works is a unique focal point of pioneer activity in Zion Canyon. The design and construction of this structure was the work of one man, David Flanagan of Springdale, Utah. Flanagan saw the need for a local source of lumber for the inhabitants of the area and located an adequate supply of timber on top of Cable Mountain. However, the timber source was inaccessible from the canyon floor at the foot of the mountain and Flanagan devised a system of cable works running from the mountain top to the bottom of the canyon to bring down lumber. Prior to this, lumber was obtained by making a ten-day round trip to the nearest source.

Flanagan’s design encountered much initial skepticism from local people. He had first conceived a cable works in 1885 as a fifteen-year old youth and by 1904, after much experimentation and failures, had the cable: works, in- operation. Flanagan operated the cable works until 1906 when he sold it to Alfred Stout and O. D. Gifford of Springdale. The Cable Mountain Timber Works operation continued intermittently until 1926 when it was abandoned. The cable was removed in 1930. The remains of the draw works represent twenty-two years of adaptive use as the structure was in constant design evolution during its operation.

The structure will be recorded to the standards of the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) with consideration for long term preservation being a scale model. Visitor access to the very precipitous site, also subjected to severe lightening storms, will be restricted.

The Cable Mountain Draw Works* a braced wooden headframe structure, was fitted with cables used to lower lumber from the summit of Cable Mountain down a 2,000-foot vertical cliff to the canyon floor. The dimensions of the structure, located at the edge of the cliff, are approximately 30 feet in length, 16 feet wide, and 14 feet high.

The supports and framing are partially collapsed, weathered, and generally deteriorated, though the overall outline and form of the origiwi structure is intact. Some of the hardware, including pulleys, -are still at the cable site, but are no longer integrated with the framework of the structure.

During operation, there were two snubbing posts set in the ground at the base of the cliff. They were used to separate the endless cable and provide tracking width for the cable as it carried down lumber on a trolley device. There are no physical remains of this lower portion of the operation.

The Cable Mountain Draw Works are located in Zion National Park in Washington County, Utah and were added to the National Historic Register (#78000281) on May 24, 1978.

• Joe’s Guide to Zion National Park

Coordinates:
N 37.26857 W 112.93366