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.
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
- Bryce Canyon National Park Rim Road, State Highway 63 to Rainbow Point, Tropicfederal building survey, 25 photographs
Population over time
2 figuresTropic 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 530 | |
| 2020 | 486 | -44 (-8%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
7 surveys from 15 printed sheetsMatched 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.
- 1886 USGS Kanab quadrangle1:250000, 5 printings
- 1953 USGS Cedar City quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Cedar City quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1962 USGS Cedar City quadrangle1:250000
- 1966 USGS Tropic Canyon quadrangle1:24000
- 1980 USGS Panguitch quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 2002 USGS Tropic Canyon quadrangle1:24000
Photographs
6 photographs, 1936 to 1940Taken 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.
Lee, Russell, 1940. Library of Congress
Lange, Dorothea, photographer, 1936. Library of Congress
Lee, Russell, 1940. Library of Congress
Lange, Dorothea, photographer, 1936. Library of Congress
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress
Lee, Russell, 1940. Library of Congress
Fires near this place
73 since 1992Regional 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 |
|---|---|
| Natural | 52 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7 |
| Smoking | 4 |
| Debris and open burning | 3 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 3 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 2 |
| Fireworks | 1 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 September 1998 | Natural | under an acre | Bryce Canyon National Park | DUMP |
| 4 September 2005 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Cedar City Field Office | MERYLS BNC |
| 3 September 2002 | Natural | under an acre | Cedar City Field Office | BULLDOG HO |
| 3 September 2002 | Natural | under an acre | Bryce Canyon National Park | MERRILL |
| 3 September 2002 | Natural | under an acre | Bryce Canyon National Park | SUNRISE |
| 3 September 2002 | Natural | under an acre | Bryce Canyon National Park | BRYCE CR |
| 22 September 1992 | Natural | under an acre | Bryce Canyon National Park | SMUDGE |
| 21 September 1996 | Smoking | under an acre | Cedar City Field Office | COALBENCH2 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 within 5 milesRegional 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Mud and Chemical | Bentonite, Subbituminous | Past Producer | Bentonite | |
| American Mud and Chemical | Bentonite, Peat | Past Producer | ||
| Utah Dept Highways Pit No 09027 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Utah Dept Highways Pit No 09028 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Utah Dept Highways Pit No 09029 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Utah Dept Highways Pit No 09030 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Utah Dept. Highways Pit #09027 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | Gravel | |
| Utah Dept. Highways Pit #09028 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | Gravel | |
| Utah Dept. Highways Pit #09029 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | Gravel | |
| Utah Dept. Highways Pit #09030 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Occurrence | Gravel, Sand |
Storms near this place
8 since 2001Regional 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 2014 | Flash Flood | Tropic | 2 hurt, $50,000 | Persistent 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 2003 | Flash Flood | Tropic | $600,000 | The 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 2010 | Flash Flood | Tropic | $50,000 | After 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 2021 | Flash Flood | Tropic | $25,000 | Flash 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 2022 | Flash Flood | Tropic | $5,000 | Heavy 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 2021 | Flash Flood | Tropic | - | 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 2021 | Flash Flood | Tropic | - | A weather spotter reported water running down streets in Tropic. |
| August 2001 | Flash Flood | Tropic | - | The rain swollen Paria River flowed over the bridge near the town of Tropic, temporarily closing it. |
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 | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cannonville | 4.3 miles | 16 | |
| Bryce Canyon | 4.5 miles | 15 | |
| Bryce Canyon City | 5.2 miles | 15 | |
| Henrieville | 6.3 miles | 15 | |
| Widtsoe Junction | 14.8 miles | 14 | |
| Widtsoe | 15.0 miles | 16 | |
| Hillsdale | 17.2 miles | 16 | |
| Hatch | 18.7 miles | 16 |
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 Tropic | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q482695 | The 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.






