Behind the Scenes: Zion National Park Superintendent Interview

Interviewing Jeff Bradybaugh, Superintendent of Zion National Park, Here is my favorite moment, something I learned and a fun fact about Zion National Park

Author

Maddie Pellman
June 04, 2024

HAPPY TUESDAY PARK PEOPLE! Today our conversation with Jeff Bradybaugh, Zion National Park Superintendent is LIVE. Jeff gives us the behind the scenes scoop on one of America’s most popular National Parks! Listen NOW on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts 🪩🎉

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Keep reading to hear my favorite moment from the interview, a new thing I learned and an interesting fact about Zion National Park, all from my interview with Zion Superintendent, Jeff Bradybaugh!

Favorite Moment from Interview with Jeff — Listen here

  • Junior Ranger Program: Thousands of kids and families participate in the junior ranger program at Zion National Park every year. We started talking about this because Jeff and I were talking about the Grand Teton episode with Chip Jenkins (listen here) and the importance being taught how to be a steward. My favorite moment from my conversation with Jeff was us laughing about how cute and funny it is to see kids reminding their parents to recycle something or “leave no trace”. Way to go Junior Rangers!!

“And we have a very active Junior Ranger program that thousands of kids and families participate in over the course of the year. And it's interesting when we overhear the youngsters remind their parents, hey, you know, you shouldn't be doing this. Don't forget to recycle that thing, Dad.”

Zion Superintendent, Jeff Bradybaugh

One Thing I Learned Interviewing Jeff

  • Soundscapes: Jeff mentioned the soundscape of Zion, and I had to ask what it was. In his words, “We often think about the sights in a park, but have we thought about the sound and those natural sounds that we want people to experience?” At a park as crowded as Zion, it is easy for the soundscape to be lost. But, my biggest takeaway in talking about this was that a soundscape is not only a “nice to have” for humans visiting the park, but it is actually crucial for the natural environment, the animals need to be able to communicate, whether that is communicating that a predator is nearby or finding their mate.

 “[in] Zion, you see this incredible landscape. So the visual resource is there. And it's very evident that sometimes we lose the natural sound environment, which is really important to the experience.”

Zion Superintendent, Jeff Bradybaugh

Interesting Fact About Zion National Park

  • Camping Along the Narrows: Most people experience the Narrows from the bottom up, usually hiking up a few miles from the end of the Riverside Walk, which is served by one of the shuttle stops in Zion Canyon. But I learned from Jeff you can also do the top down trip, which is about a 16 mile descent in the Virgin River through the Narrows coming out at the River Sidewalk. And while it can be done in one day, it may be more enjoyable getting a camping permit and doing it in two. That means you can camp inside the canyon alongside the narrow river (no way!!!!), and it creates a unique camping experience where you can only see the night sky through a little slot which is basically the top of the canyon rims on either side.

Maddie’s Outdoor Obsessions

This section will always highlight my favorite picks from the past week in the outdoor & adventure world

  • HydroFlask National Park Themed Water Bottles: My boyfriend bought me the Yellowstone HydroFlask water bottle, and every time I use it it makes me very happy. They have a Zion and Yosemite water bottle as well. I had a Nalgene that was wayyy too old so it is nice to have a new, clean water bottle.

  • Fjallraven Hiking Pants: When I was hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park last weekend, I didn’t dress super appropriately for the weather and was wearing shorts when I definitely should have worn pants (see pic below). On our hike I saw this girl on the trail whose pants I really liked. I told her I liked them, and she said she had just gotten them at REI, so voila they have been added to my wishlist!

Me being very cold on our hike in Rocky Mountain National Park

  • Alltrails: May be basic but I love Alltrails and it, from what I have found, continues to be a great place to find hikes and also, once a hike has been decided on, to use for navigational purposes. I love (and it has come in handy) that the gps works without service, so I can make sure I am on the right trail at all times. It helped us not get lost this past weekend in Rocky Mountain National Park (i.e. when we realized we had gone off trail in the snow, we were able to use our gps location and the Alltrails map to get back on the trail). Truly a lifesaver!

Love y’all — see you all for our next episode release June 18th!! (Any guesses on what park we will visit next????)

Maddie

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