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Show Bryce Visits Top Past Year 3.7 BRYCE CANYON - Bryce Canyon National Park recorded 481,500 visits during 1981, a 3.7 percent increase over the previous year. Park Superintendent Bob Benton attributed most of the increase to the unusually large number of visitors that came to the park in the spring months as a result of good weather and an early melting of snow that permitted opening roads ahead of schedule. Park campground use was down 7 percent with 94,000 campers staying overnight at the park during the year. Benton remarked that the six inches of rain recorded during July and August dampened some visitors' enthusiasm for camping, causing the decline in campground use. Benton noted that the most significant change in visitor use patterns in the last few years has been the enormous increase in the number of bus tours. In 1981 nearly 50,000 visitors arrived by bus. According to Benton Bryce Canyon has been allocated special funds to plow the main park road to Rainbow Point during the winter. Work on this project will begin as soon as the necessary snow removal equipment is purchased. "We expect," said Benton, "opening the Rainbow Point road will increase winter visitation and provide additional economic benefits to Utah." |