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BRYCE CANYON — If you are looking for a fun activity for the next two weekends, Garfield County has you covered with a unique opportunity — a “treasure” hunt.
The rules for the activity are simple: Visit Kodachrome Basin State Park, Escalante Petrified Forest State Park and Anasazi State Park Museum and try to find a gold token either this Friday and Saturday or April 6-7, according to Falyn Owens, Garfield County tourism director. The hunt begins each Friday at 8 a.m. and ends each Saturday at 4 p.m.
A total of 24 tokens will be hidden throughout each of the parks during the treasure hunt (although not in the campgrounds.) Eight tokens are hidden in each of the three parks each weekend of the contest, and only four tokens were found during the first weekend, March 22-23, Owens said.
Participants can get clues for where to find the numbered gold tokens in the park by checking the Bryce Canyon Country Facebook page, Instagram and Twitter. Each numbered token will pair with a corresponding prize like an Apple Watch, a tent, a DJI Spark drone and a 55-inch smart TV, among others.
Along with giving people a fun spring break and Easter weekend activity, the Garfield County Tourism Bureau wants to promote some of the local gems in the area, Owens said.
“We really wanted people to not just see Bryce Canyon, but kind of disperse themselves throughout the county,” Owens said. “We did have a few local people find coins last week and that was great because I don’t think that they would have gone into the state parks otherwise, so it’s good that we are getting locals out into the state parks to kind of see what else we have in the county.”
Anyone who finds a token must turn it in to park officials by 4:30 p.m. on Saturday the weekend it was found or it will not be honored. Only one prize will be awarded per person over the span of the three weekends.
Participants should be prepared with warm clothing and water during their hiking and will need to pay the entrance fee to the park.
Owens said roughly 75 people had registered for the event last week, but registration is still open for the remaining two weekends of the event.
Additional details about the prizes can be found on the Bryce Canyon Country website.
