Several of the larger and more popular national parks have multiple entrances.  With how popular Bryce Canyon is, you might naturally wonder just how many entrances there are to this national park.  Well, wonder no more as I’m presenting you with the answer to that question today.  It’ll be a quick question to answer, but let’s tackle it head on right now.

I’ll give you the answer straight and upfront.  Sadly, Bryce Canyon National Park has only one entrance.  The gates are at the north end of the park.  Take a look at the map issued by the national park service displayed here.  It will show you this information and the location of the entrance for sure.

This entrance has three separate gates to accommodate the traffic flowing through the park.  Most days, you’ll see one or two gates open.  If there’s a line, it’s a short line with only a few cars ahead of you.  Also, such a line tends to move quickly most times.  However, during high traffic windows like Memorial weekend, you can guarantee that all three gates will be open with long lines of cars flowing behind.

They also have ways to accommodate larger vehicles such as RVs and buses.  There is also a free shuttle service which will take you into Bryce Canyon though a separate gate here at the same entrance.  Learn more about Bryce Canyon’s shuttle service and its stops throughout the park and nearby Bryce City in this article.

If you think that the National Park Service should consider another building another entrance to Bryce, then you should check out the terrain.  It really isn’t possible.  Check out this more topographical map for an idea.

Just in case you don’t know how to read a topographical map, the more lines grouped tighter together represent a steep change in elevation.  This means that the south end of the park is on a cliff.  If you don’t believe me, check out this shot from the southern-most view point in the park.  It also oversees some of Arizona off in the distance.

The eastern side of the park is where the interesting and spectacular views are.  The western side has some sharp mountains and valleys.  Also, there’s the Tropic reservoir to deal with in the next valley over.  The NPS built the entrance in about the only place they could.  There’s no option for more entrances into Bryce Canyon.

So, sadly, Bryce Canyon offers only one entrance for the public.  It’s at the north end of the park and controls all the traffic in and out of the park.  There’s no room to add on any more entrances even if Bryce Canyon could support more.