New restaurant at Zion National Park

We are excited to tell you about a new restaurant at Zion National Park, located near our outdoor adventure shop in Springdale, Utah. The Flying Monkey Restaurant just opened for business and is already receiving great reviews. This is a place we recommend to our clients.

The name: So what about this Flying Monkey name and where did it come from? Back in the 1950′s the U.S. Air Force constructed a 12,000 foot test track on nearby Hurricane Mesa. The track was constructed to test aircraft ejection systems. A rocket sled was sent hurtling down the 2+ mile long track at speeds over 1,000

miles per hour and when the sled reached the end of the mesa a dummy was ejected and allowed to parachute into the valley 1,500 feet below. In at least one test series the rocket sled dummy was replaced by apes to identify the g-force effects of this type of ejection on a live being. Hence the Flying Monkey name came into existence. In one of the tests with the ejection dummy in place, the 9,400 pound rocket sled reached world record speeds of over 1,800 miles per hour. The Hurricane Mesa test track facility is apparently the only privately owned supersonic test track in the United States. In more recent years a mountain biking trail near Hurricane Mesa was named the Flying Monkey trail and this added impetus for the naming of the restaurant.

Back to the Restaurant: Since it’s opening visitors to Springdale and ZionNational Park have been raving about the oven-fired pizza and great pastas, salads, burgers and other fare at the Flying Monkey. It is located on the south side of the road across the street from Shell Station in town and next to the brand new Sol Foods grocery store in Springdale. It’s location and delicious food have been a strong draw for the restaurant. So at mid-day or after a long day of adventure at Zion National Park, we highly recommend you try the Flying Monkey restaurant.