ST. GEORGE — Despite seeing new trends in visitation, Bryce Canyon National Park is expecting 2022 to close out as its fourth busiest year in history.
“2022 has seen park operations and visitation looking much more like the years leading up to the pandemic,” park spokesman Peter Densmore told St. George News. “Visitation numbers won’t be finalized until next year, but we expect this to be the fourth busiest year in the park’s history behind 2017, 2018 and 2019.”
Densmore said Garfield County, where the park is located, went from high to medium community-level transmission as of Friday. Wearing a mask in federal buildings at Bryce Canyon National Park now is optional.
In areas that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identifies as high COVID-19 community level, masks are required for everyone in all park buildings, regardless of vaccination status. Masks are optional when an area is at low and medium COVID-19 community levels, Densmore said. Even though masks are currently optional, he said visitors should follow signs and instructions from park staff and volunteers.
“Visitors and employees are always welcome to wear a mask if it makes them more comfortable,” he added.
Visitors can check the park’s current conditions page for the latest COVID-19 Community Level and mask requirements. Read more about the National Park Service’s masking guidance online.
In 2021, Bryce Canyon National Park had its fifth busiest year in the park’s history. Densmore said 2.1 million people visited the park, and the 2022 visitation numbers will be finalized in early 2023.
From 2020 to 2021, Densmore said the park’s visitation fell by about 44% due to COVID-19 impacts. April 2020 was the month of lowest visitation because the park temporarily closed from April 7, 2020, until May 6, 2020, to protect the health and safety of visitors and staff.
He said by June 2020, all major facilities in the park had reopened, though with some modifications to their operations.
“Some of these modifications included mask requirements in all park facilities and areas where social distancing could not be maintained,” Densmore said. “We limited capacity in the Visitor Center and park shuttles; we had more frequent cleaning and sanitation schedules, as well as changes to food service in the Lodge. The park’s annual astronomy and geology festivals were also canceled for 2020.”
With the exception of concessions staffing levels requiring that Valhalla Pizzeria remain closed, all park facilities were fully open this season and will remain open in 2023, he said.
“And with the park’s centennial arriving next year, we’re looking forward to welcoming the world to Bryce Canyon National Park.”
Since the pandemic, tourists have been coming in “weird waves,” Lance Syrett, general manager of Ruby’s Inn, told St. George News. The tourism season isn’t as cut and dry as it once was before the pandemic; it’s “complicated.”
“Since the beginning of the pandemic, you’ve got these periods like it used to be, a little bit like a farmer’s almanac as far as the busy season,” he said. “It ramped up mid-April, and then it would be busy through mid-October.”
There was some increase in the off-season due to a festival. Still, generally, during the shoulder season, it was slower. But post-pandemic, the picture changed.
“All of the springs since the pandemic, we’re extremely busy,” Syrett said. “That’s one of the things we noticed is that a lot of visitation is coming in during the shoulder seasons.”
Syrett said because of the pandemic, many think since it’s busy during the peak season, they travel during the shoulder season. This causes visitation to spike during a typically slow time, such as March and April. Then those months see record-breaking visitation.
“It’s been a weird phenomenon last couple of years that July and August are some of our slowest festive seasons, which is counterintuitive,” Syrett said. “Bryce Canyon is the most Alpine, highest elevation of the mighty five national parks. So, it’s very seasonal dependent.”
Syrett is the great-grandson of Rueben ‘Ruby’ Syrett, who built Ruby’s Inn in 1916. Many other family members also take part in the business.
Bryce Canyon National Park closes all park concessions for the winter in November and then reopens in the spring. There are no concessions currently open inside the park.
Backcountry activities are popular during the winter and the park’s website notes there is a new way to get backcountry permits for 2023. Now visitors can reserve overnight backcountry permits for trips during peak season (March 2023 – November 2023) up to three months in advance online.
The website states that permits for winter trips occurring from December through February will remain on a walk-in basis, issued up to 48 hours in advance. Visitors must check in at the Visitor Center before departing on an overnight trip, pick up their permit, rent a free bear canister or have a personal canister inspected.
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