WASHINGTON COUNTY, Utah — A 48-acre property along Kolob Terrace Road on Zion National Park’s west side has been in Lorin Lowe’s family for generations.
“Sometimes we become so accustomed to the beauty of Zion National Park on that backside that we have to take a minute and think, ‘Hey, this is beautiful,' and we’ve got to slow down and take a breath and take it all in,” said Lowe.
It used to be a resting place for cattle on their journey to Kolob Reservoir.
“We affectionately call it the ‘holding pasture’ because on horseback, my great grandfather and his children would move cattle from the desert grazing areas that we have in Hurricane and Toquerville, and move them all the way up to the mountain meadows surrounding Kolob Reservoir,” explained Lowe, “And this was the holding area that the for the cattle where they would rest along on their journey up to their destination at Kolob Reservoir.”
Now, he said things have changed in the modern world of transporting cattle. His family now uses stock trailers to move the cows, and so they no longer need the plot of land.
After hearing from many interested buyers, Lowe decided to sell the property to the Trust for Public Land, a national conservation organization that recently transferred ownership to Zion National Park.
“We wanted to see it stay in its original state,” said Lowe. “I mean, I think the only reason that someone might own it would be to put a second home on it or a cabin or a cottage or to develop it in some way.”
Lowe’s property is one of 10 projects taken up by the Trust For Public Land. One of those is a piece of land on the park’s east side that allows visitors to hike the full length of the popular Oneida Narrows trail, according to Jim Petterson, the vice president of the trust's Mountain West Region.
“The goal is to make sure that when one visits that National Park today and you have that experience of this sort of untrammeled land and these beautiful vistas,” said Petterson, “That our kids are gonna have that same experience when they go there and not see second homes or glamping operations or anything else that would be incompatible with what we expect to see when we go to a national park like Zion.”
Petterson said the organization reaches out to the owners of the approximately 3,000 remaining acres of private land within the park’s boundaries each year. It’s how they connected with Lowe.
“[He has a] really remarkable story, and it’s a true gift to the nation that his family was willing to entertain selling the property to an organization that they knew was going to add it to the National Park. We need more families like that,” said Petterson.
As for Lowe, he said the holding pasture will continue to be enjoyed by future generations of his family.
“We would hope that we'd come back someday and be able to hike on it, visit the property and enjoy the views from it,” said Lowe, “Just like everyone else would be able to.”
