Structures vary in size and scale from the Zion Lodge to road culverts and curbs, nearly all of which were designed using native materials and regional construction techniques in an adapted version of the National Park Service Rustic style.

Compared with the Bryce Canyon Lodge, the Zion Park Lodge used smaller elements of timber and stonework, and employed milled lumber in place of rough log elements.

This reflected the more settled character of the Zion area, which retained farms and irrigation systems at the time the first visitor facilities were built.

[1] They represent an unusually homogeneous series of buildings for a national park, sharing details of composition, scale and materials.

The park also preserves remnants of early Mormon settlement in Zion Canyon, which began in 1862.