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Tropic, Utah

15 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1886 and the latest in 2002. It stands in the Tropic census division. It lies in ZIP code area 84776. It stands on Campbell Creek. The Survey maps it on the Tropic Canyon quadrangle. 486 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 6,309 feet above sea level.

Tropic within Garfield County

On record in Tropic

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

Surveyed buildings and structures 1 record

Population over time

2 figures

Tropic fell from 530 to 486 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
2010530
2020486-44 (-8%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 15 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Photographs

6 photographs, 1936 to 1940

Taken for the Office of War Information and the Farm Security Administration, who photographed the country between 1935 and 1944. Works of United States government photographers, with no known restriction on use. Each opens its catalogue record.

Old Mormon house at Tropic, Utah
Old Mormon house at Tropic, Utah
Lee, Russell, 1940. Library of Congress
Widtsoe land use adjustment project. Garfield County, Utah. Loading boulder on stone boat, while excavating new spillway of Tropic Dam
Widtsoe land use adjustment project. Garfield County, Utah. Loading boulder on stone boat, while excavating new spillway of Tropic Dam
Lange, Dorothea, photographer, 1936. Library of Congress
Main store. Tropic, Utah
Main store. Tropic, Utah
Lee, Russell, 1940. Library of Congress
Widtsoe land use adjustment project. Garfield County, Utah. Excavating new spillway of Tropic Dam
Widtsoe land use adjustment project. Garfield County, Utah. Excavating new spillway of Tropic Dam
Lange, Dorothea, photographer, 1936. Library of Congress
Bryce Canyon National Park Rim Road, State Highway 63 to Rainbow Point, Tropic, Garfield County, UT
Bryce Canyon National Park Rim Road, State Highway 63 to Rainbow Point, Tropic, Garfield County, UT
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
Old Mormon house at Tropic, Utah
Old Mormon house at Tropic, Utah
Lee, Russell, 1940. Library of Congress

Fires near this place

73 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 73 fires within 5 miles of Tropic between 1992 and 2020, burning about 42 acres in total. 52 started naturally. 1 was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Natural52
Missing data/not specified/undetermined7
Smoking4
Debris and open burning3
Recreation and ceremony3
Equipment and vehicle use2
Fireworks1
Arson/incendiarism1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
8 September 1998Naturalunder an acreBryce Canyon National ParkDUMP
4 September 2005Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreCedar City Field OfficeMERYLS BNC
3 September 2002Naturalunder an acreCedar City Field OfficeBULLDOG HO
3 September 2002Naturalunder an acreBryce Canyon National ParkMERRILL
3 September 2002Naturalunder an acreBryce Canyon National ParkSUNRISE
3 September 2002Naturalunder an acreBryce Canyon National ParkBRYCE CR
22 September 1992Naturalunder an acreBryce Canyon National ParkSMUDGE
21 September 1996Smokingunder an acreCedar City Field OfficeCOALBENCH2

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Garfield County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 10 workings within 5 miles of Tropic: 9 past producers, 1 occurrence. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Bentonite, Subbituminous, Bentonite, Peat. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
American Mud and ChemicalBentonite, SubbituminousPast ProducerBentonite
American Mud and ChemicalBentonite, PeatPast Producer
Utah Dept Highways Pit No 09027Sand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Utah Dept Highways Pit No 09028Sand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Utah Dept Highways Pit No 09029Sand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Utah Dept Highways Pit No 09030Sand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Utah Dept. Highways Pit #09027Sand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerGravel
Utah Dept. Highways Pit #09028Sand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerGravel
Utah Dept. Highways Pit #09029Sand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerGravel
Utah Dept. Highways Pit #09030Sand and Gravel, ConstructionOccurrenceGravel, Sand

Every working recorded in Garfield County

Storms near this place

8 since 2001

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Tropic in 8 storm reports between 2001 and 2022: 8 flash flood. The reports record 2 injuries. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
September 2014Flash FloodTropic2 hurt, $50,000Persistent moderate to heavy rainfall caused flash flooding along the Paria River, especially near Kodachrome Basin State Park. The flood waters undercut the road into the state park, and caused a bridge over the river to collapse. When this occurred, a couple visiting from Italy was crossing the bridge, and their car fell into the river. The car was carried about 150 yards downstream before flipping onto its top. The couple, a 47-year-old female and a 62-year-old male, managed to escape out of a back window before being rescued. Both were taken to the hospital to be treated for hypothermia. The loss of the bridge caused most of Kodachrome Basin State Park to remain closed for an extended period of time.
August 2003Flash FloodTropic$600,000The worst flash flooding in the town of Tropic in 40 years occurred as over 2 inches of rain fell over the area in 90 minutes, sending torrents of mud and water down the center of town and into houses and basements. The floods also tore large propane tanks loose and swept them away. About 30 structures sustained damage, most of them residential homes. No deaths or major injuries were reported.
July 2010Flash FloodTropic$50,000After an estimated rainfall of about 4 inches in 2.5 hours, the Paria River flooded basements in the city of Tropic, and flowed over small bridges leading to nearby residential areas. The flood wave continued down the Paria all the way down to the Utah/Arizona border.
August 2021Flash FloodTropic$25,000Flash flooding produced significant trail damage in Bryce Canyon National Park. Park officials reported the Wall Street section of Navajo Loop, the Bryce Connector Trail, and Peekaboo Loop were closed were closed due to the damage.
September 2022Flash FloodTropic$5,000Heavy rain from nearby thunderstorms resulted in 3-hour Multi-Radar/Multi-Sensor estimates of around 1 to 2 inches total. Garfield County Dispatch reported flooding in Tropic, Cannonville, and Henrieville. One basement was flooded. Time estimated by radar.
July 2021Flash FloodTropic-Video received showed significant flows through a normally dry wash just south of Tropic, including a mature fully grown tree floating beneath an underpass along Bryce Highway. In addition, Bryce Canyon National Park officials reported the closure of the Queens Garden Trail, Navajo Loop, and the road to Bryce Point due to flooding.
July 2021Flash FloodTropic-A weather spotter reported water running down streets in Tropic.
August 2001Flash FloodTropic-The rain swollen Paria River flowed over the bridge near the town of Tropic, temporarily closing it.

Every storm recorded in Garfield County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Cannonville4.3 miles16
Bryce Canyon4.5 miles15
Bryce Canyon City5.2 miles15
Henrieville6.3 miles15
Widtsoe Junction14.8 miles14
Widtsoe15.0 miles16
Hillsdale17.2 miles16
Hatch18.7 miles16

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on TropicAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q482695The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1446722. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.