America’s national parks welcomed more visitors than ever last year, and Utah’s Mighty Five joined the party.
New federal data shows one even set a new record.
Capitol Reef National Park had more than 1.4 million visits, its highest number since it was established as a national monument in 1937. That’s an 81% jump in visitation since 2014, the largest increase of any Utah park over that time.
Zion National Park and Canyonlands National Park both recorded their second-highest visitor totals ever. Zion even surpassed Arizona’s Grand Canyon National Park to become the second-most popular park nationwide. It ranked third in 2023. Bryce Canyon National Park had its fourth-busiest year and its biggest since before the pandemic. All of Utah’s parks saw increases, except for Arches National Park which implemented a timed entry system to curb crowds in 2022.
The millions who flock to southern Utah’s red rock nirvana have become vital to the rural economies in nearby communities, too.
“If we didn't have Bryce Canyon National Park, I just can't imagine,” said Lance Syrett, a general manager with Ruby’s Inn in Bryce Canyon City.
“Our rural county’s only got 5,000 people, and probably 4,000 of those people make their money directly from tourism.”
The people who visit Utah’s national parks contributed $3 billion to the state economy and supported 26,500 jobs in 2023, according to federal data.
Syrett, who’s also on the Garfield County Tourism Advisory Board, was born and raised in the Bryce Canyon area, so he’s seen it change drastically as tourism skyrocketed.
One example is the length of the busy season. In the small town of Tropic where he lives, so few people visited in the off-season years ago that they “pretty much used to roll the streets up in the winter time.”
Now, the crowds have spread out across the year — part of a concerted effort from local leaders to welcome more visitors without exacerbating summer entry lines, he said.
The data bears that out. February and December visitation at Bryce Canyon just about doubled between 2014 and 2024, while July and August had much smaller gains.
That change brings tangible benefits to the local community. Ruby’s Inn used to have a lot of seasonal workers who were laid off at the start of winter, Syrett said. But now it’s busy enough that he can keep pretty much any interested employees hired year-round.
“That's been a good phenomenon,” he said, and “really a stark contrast to even, like, 15 years ago.”
There can be growing pains, too. Crowds and traffic often spill over into gateway towns like Moab. Having a bunch of extra people pile into relatively isolated communities can also strain water supplies and make it hard to preserve dark skies.
Still, the new hotels, restaurants and other businesses popping up around southwest Utah have been good for business. The economic output related to Zion tourism alone totaled $967 million in 2023, more than four times what it was a decade earlier.
“You want to make your area as accommodating as possible for tourists, but you also have to keep in mind the permanent residents that live here as well. So, it's always just trying to maintain that balance,” said Heath Hansen, government affairs director with the Greater Zion Convention and Tourism Office in St. George.
Utah’s rising visitation numbers are part of a nationwide trend. America’s national parks had an all-time high of 331.9 million visits in 2024. Capitol Reef was one of 28 parks that set new records across the country.
The continued growth also comes at a time of uncertainty for many of the people who work at the parks and the communities they call home. Advocates estimate at least 20 Utah park rangers were fired in February as part of the Trump administration’s effort to shrink the federal government. That’s led to worries about how the cuts might impact everything from visitor center hours and trailhead bathrooms to search and rescue operations.
At the same time, the Trump administration appears to be trying to downplay 2024’s record-setting numbers. The New York Times reports that internal government communications have instructed parks not to issue press releases or create social media posts about the data.
The Greater Zion office has begun to receive inquiries from prospective tourists about how the park job cuts might affect their trip, Hansen said. With the park supposed to begin hiring seasonal workers soon, his message hasn’t changed.
“The park is still fully open, fully operational,” he said. “We're confident that the park will be able to stay open and stay functional throughout this season.”
