The first inhabitants of the area arrived approximately 8,000 years ago as small family groups of Native Americans. In 1300 the two major groups in the area, the Basketmaker Anasazi and the Parowan Fremont, moved away and were replaced by the Parrusits and several other Southern Paiute sub-tribes. In 1858 Mormons arrived in the area and settled in the early 1860s.
The area was named a National Monument in 1909 under the name Mukuntuweap National Monument. However; the acting director of the newly created National Park Service changed the park's name to Zion in 1918 because he believed the previous longer and more complicated name would deter visitors. The United States Congress established the monument as a National Park on November 19,1919.