2026 will be the end of the road for oversized vehicles in southern Utah’s Zion National Park [Video]

Zion National Park • Go around. I’m retired.

That’s the advice the rear bumper sticker on Denver residents George and Jean Martinez’s motorhome gives to drivers trailing their large Newmar rig. “Go around” will also be what Zion National Park tells drivers of large RVs, travel trailers and tour buses in the near future.

Starting in mid-2026, Zion National Park will no longer allow oversized vehicles to travel the Zion-Mt. Carmel Highway, the scenic byway that bisects southern Utah’s top tourist draw. Instead, drivers of all vehicles heavier than 50,000 pounds, longer than 35 feet 9 inches, taller than 11 feet 4 inches, or wider than 7 feet 10 inches will be rerouted to roads around the park.

“I hate being given the runaround,” George Martinez quipped. “This is Jean’s favorite national park and we come here every other year. We especially like driving through Zion’s back entrance, past Checkerboard Mesa and through Zion Tunnel to get to …