Attendance at southern Utah parks on the rise

SALT LAKE CITY — A glance at the Utah State Parks homepage on Monday shows a tale of two Utahs.  Specifically, parks in northern Utah reported snow and near-freezing temperatures. And parks in central and southern Utah report a chance for showers and 64 degrees.

Fortunately, ski and sun lovers can both get what they want in Utah, and those who seek warmth have figured that out.

Tourism and parks officials confirm that parks in southern and southeastern Utah are seeing the highest attendance jumps they’ve seen in recent years.

“The visitation to our southeast and southwestern Utah parks has just absolutely been skyrocketing,” said Devan Chavez with Utah State Parks. 

Chavez mentioned Sand Hollow and Gunlock State Park specifically.

The increase in visitors didn’t surprise Anna Loughridge with the Utah Office of Tourism.

“Traditionally around spring break time, we will see a little bit of an uptick in travel,” Loughridge said. “That is really because the sun is shining in southern Utah.”

The national weather service has a winter storm warning in effect for portions of northern Utah through Tuesday night.

Related reading: Heart of Utah: Archery, Bigfoot, Dinosaurs and Yurts — Utah State Parks becoming crown jewels