Bryce Canyon General Store

The General Store near Sunrise Point provides snacks, gifts, supplies, showers, bathrooms, and more.

NPS Photo/Peter Densmore

Quick Facts

Location:

Northwest of Sunrise Point; North of the Bryce Canyon Lodge along the Lodge Loop Road

Significance:

Constructed by the Utah Parks Company in 1932, this structure was first known as the Cafeteria and Camp Center, then Bryce Inn, and now the General Store. It was the central unit in the park's housekeeping camp unit. 

Designation:

Added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 25, 1995

Amenities

24 listed

Benches/Seating, Bicycle - Rack, Electrical Outlet/Cell Phone Charging, Fire Extinguisher, Firewood For Sale/Available, Food/Drink - Bar/Alcohol For Sale, Food/Drink - Coffee, Food/Drink - Ice Cream, Food/Drink - Restaurant/Table Service, Food/Drink - Snacks, Gifts/Souvenirs/Books, Groceries/Convenience Items, Ice, Laundry, Parking - Auto, Picnic Table, Recycling, Restroom, Restroom - Accessible, Showers, Supplies - Camping/Outdoor, Toilet - Flush, Trash/Litter Receptacles, Wheelchair Accessible

The General Store is located near Sunrise Point and North Campground. It serves "grab-and-go" hot and cold foods such as pizza, soup, ice cream, and sandwiches. Beverages such as soda, water, beer, and coffee are also available. Visitors can also find restrooms, showers, camping supplies including firewood, and souveniers.
The General Store is typically closed between January and March.

Camp Center and Bryce Inn

Constructed by the Utah Parks Company in 1932--the same year as the Old Administration Building (High Plateau Institute) to the south. Designed by Gilbert Stanley Underwood, who also designed the park's Lodge, this structure was designated the central unit in the Utah Parks Company’s “housekeeping camp unit". After the deluxe cabins and Bryce Lodge, this was the last major improvement in the park designed by Underwood.  Available evidence suggests the Utah Parks Company intended to use the cafeteria building as a center of operations once the Lodge was closed for the season. It soon became evident the building was too small for this purpose.
This area once contained housekeeping tents, along with simple guest cabins, sanitary facilities, and support buildings which were removed from 1974-1989. 
In September of 1954, its name was changed from Bryce Canyon cafeteria and camp center to Bryce Canyon Inn. Sometime after the removal of the surrounding structures the building was renamed to the General Store.
In 1994 the building was submitted to the National Register of Historic Places as an example of Gilbert Stanley Underwood's Rustic architectural design.
 

The Utah Parks Company at Bryce Canyon

The Utah Parks Company (UPC) was a subsidiary of Union Pacific Railroad, which owned and operated restaurants, lodging, and bus tours in Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks, the north rim of Grand Canyon National Park, and Cedar Breaks National Monument from the 1920s until 1972. Before Bryce Canyon became a national park, the Union Pacific Railroad had conceived these parks and monuments as forming a "Grand Circle", which would ultimately be visited first by arrival at a rail depot in Lund, Utah (near present day Cedar City) and then by bus to the UPC-owned El Escalante hotel in Cedar City, and then to the parks themselves. To accomodate these visitors, the Utah Parks Company financed the construction of the Bryce Canyon Lodge, numerous cabins and other less permanent accomodations, the General Store, and later the Historic Service Station. After the establishment of Bryce Canyon National Park in 1928, UPC would serve as the park's sole concessionaire until competition from private motor vehicles and other operating costs would lead to their liquidiation and donation of all assets within the park to the National Park Service in 1972.