Issue 48.10
Part 10
To commemorate their 50th anniversary, the National Park Service in 1956 proposed sweeping ten-year plan, “Mission 66.” The program was proposed to protect, develop, and improve the national parks nation-wide. The plan was studied, developed, and promoted at the local level.. In May 1955, Paul Franke, Superintendent of Zion and Bryce National Parks, announced what he called a “first step” in development of Zion National Monument; the construction of a highway into the monument. After a week-long investigation with regional park officials from San Francisco, he concluded that such a road was feasible. [IC Record, 26 May 1955]
In July 1956, Conrad L. Wirth, Director of the National Park Service announced the details of the Mission 66 proposal to Congress and the American people. Three of the proposals dealt directly with the development of Zion National Monument. The first recommendation was to incorporate the monument into Zion National Park. A second proposal called for two new roads into the Kolob area; one up Taylor Creek and down to LaVerkin Creek and a second road on a spur to Death Point on the eastern edge of the monument. A final proposal called for a new campground on LaVerkin Creek at the end of the proposed road up Taylor Creek. [IC Record, 12 July 1956]
In the fifty years plus years since the announcement, only one proposal and part of another have been completed and the others will probably not be undertaken. The first proposal was completed at the time the Mission 66 plan was being presented. On 11 July 1956, Zion National Monument became part of Zion National Park. Even the New York Times covered the action and published a beautiful photograph of Burnt Mountain to accompany the story. [NY Times, 26 August 1956] Part of the second proposal was achieved by the fall of 1967. An oiled road was completed from I-15 into the heart of the Kolob Canyons. Construction started in the spring of 1964; grading of the road base was completed by the spring of 1966, and paving of the new road was finished the next year. The project, which Richard Thorley suggested in 1917 cost the taxpayers $1,460,000. The 5.2 mile road ended on a hillside overlooking Timber Creek and the spectacular Five Fingers of the Kolob. The road was not completed to LaVerkin Creek as originally planned, so the campground was never constructed, and the road to Death Point was never attempted due to a dispute over private property rights. [NPS, “Taylor Creek Road”, 66-87]
With the completion of the road into Kolob a new phase in its history began. We will consider these subjects in the next episode of this series.