Driving LA to Vegas.

Duff

Hey guys,

Heading back to LA with my wife later in the year and planning to drive to Vegas for a few nights, too. Just wondering is there anything to see along the way or worthwhile detours to take? Also, I'd love to see the Grand Canyon while in Vegas. Is it feesible to drive to it or should I save it for another trip entirely?

Thanks

Riskymove

yes it is very feasible and very popular

an example forum: https://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/forums/americas-united-states-of-america/united-states/going-to-grand-canyon-from-la-and-to-las-vegas-by-train-or-car

jme2010

I thought it was a short enough drive so no need to break it up at all.

You could detour though the Mohave once you get to baker and see the Worlds Largest thermometer.

Oh and if your arriving at night the drive in is spectacular.

Use your gps to bring you to the Las Vegas sign, otherwise it will bring you down the highway and you'll miss the big entrance.

ceadaoin.

It's not really feasible to drive to the grand canyon and back in a day, not if you want to go to the South rim anyway. It would be at least a day and a half out of your trip if you wanted to do it. It's definitely worth it but not if you only have a few nights in vegas. I'd recommend staying in Williams, it's not too far of a drive or there is a scenic train you can take from there.

The western rim is closer, maybe 2-3 hours drive but I've heard that the scenery is not as nice and its a bit of a rip off

Duff

Thanks for the replies, lads. We'll be spending 6 nights in Vegas so plenty of time to go to the grand canyon I reckon. I'm not sure what the difference is between the West and South rim, I'd just like to see the main scenery and maybe do the skywalk. If this isn't possible to do in a day (leave really early in the AM and home that night) I guess we could book a place for a night that's close to the sights.

M.T. Cranium

Another day trip from Vegas that I would recommend is to see Zion and Bryce Canyon national parks in Utah. You could have a pretty good visit by driving through Zion (takes about an hour) and plan to spend about three hours at Bryce Canyon. It is about a four hour drive from Vegas, and you can make the return trip without slowing down in Zion by going over to the I-15 directly from Panguitch UT. Of course you would have a better experience by staying somewhere near Bryce Canyon for one night and seeing both parks at a more leisurely pace but you would still enjoy the shorter all-combined version.

You will find that the desert scenery is rather uninspiring around Vegas itself, grey barren rock being the main ingredient, distant views of low hills, and heat mirages. The scenery improves quite quickly into either Arizona or Utah and also you get up quite a bit higher in elevation so that the heat is more tolerable. A typical mid-summer temperature for Bryce Canyon is 85 F compared to 105 to 110 for Vegas. Same air mass usually just cooler due to elevation. Grand Canyon is around 95 F and afternoon brief thunderstorms are fairly common especially later July and August. Vegas on the other hand usually remains dry, typically there will be one or two days each summer with widespread storms that include Vegas but they don't get these daily storms that form over the higher ground.

The north rim of Grand Canyon is not that bad a substitute for the busier south rim, I would rate it as "almost as scenic" and certainly if you hadn't seen the south rim quite an astounding view.

You would be well advised to buy a season pass to all national parks if you plan to go to all three, but their daily fees are around $30 on the average. Maybe the totals are about the same though. Zion and Bryce Canyon don't have a shared day pass unfortunately.

If you travel in mid-summer, keep your eyes open for road debris on the interstate highways, there are often large bits of tyres from trucks in the hot weather. This is not so much of a problem at this time of year. If you haven't booked a Vegas stay yet, consider the Rio, it is not quite on the strip but the views of the strip are therefore better and they have a shuttle if you don't fancy the ten minute walk. As for Utah motels, you can get fairly good accoms in smaller towns for under $100 a night if you book ahead. Just don't expect much night life, Utah is mostly about scenery and wide open spaces.

ceadaoin.

Duff wrote: »

Thanks for the replies, lads. We'll be spending 6 nights in Vegas so plenty of time to go to the grand canyon I reckon. I'm not sure what the difference is between the West and South rim, I'd just like to see the main scenery and maybe do the skywalk. If this isn't possible to do in a day (leave really early in the AM and home that night) I guess we could book a place for a night that's close to the sights.

The skywalk is on the Western rim so is possible to do in a day. You should make the drive out to red Rock canyon too, it's only about 20-30 mins from the strip and has some nice hikes if you're into that sort of thing (obviously be mindful of the weather) and a scenic loop drive.

The Rio no longer has the free shuttle. I wouldn't stay off strip, you'll spend most of your time walking around anyway, why be further away. Bear in mind also that most strip hotels now charge for parking, $15-20 per day, so that will need to be factored in if you have a rental car

Duff

M.T. Cranium wrote: »

Another day trip from Vegas that I would recommend is to see Zion and Bryce Canyon national parks in Utah. You could have a pretty good visit by driving through Zion (takes about an hour) and plan to spend about three hours at Bryce Canyon. It is about a four hour drive from Vegas, and you can make the return trip without slowing down in Zion by going over to the I-15 directly from Panguitch UT. Of course you would have a better experience by staying somewhere near Bryce Canyon for one night and seeing both parks at a more leisurely pace but you would still enjoy the shorter all-combined version.

You will find that the desert scenery is rather uninspiring around Vegas itself, grey barren rock being the main ingredient, distant views of low hills, and heat mirages. The scenery improves quite quickly into either Arizona or Utah and also you get up quite a bit higher in elevation so that the heat is more tolerable. A typical mid-summer temperature for Bryce Canyon is 85 F compared to 105 to 110 for Vegas. Same air mass usually just cooler due to elevation. Grand Canyon is around 95 F and afternoon brief thunderstorms are fairly common especially later July and August. Vegas on the other hand usually remains dry, typically there will be one or two days each summer with widespread storms that include Vegas but they don't get these daily storms that form over the higher ground.

The north rim of Grand Canyon is not that bad a substitute for the busier south rim, I would rate it as "almost as scenic" and certainly if you hadn't seen the south rim quite an astounding view.

You would be well advised to buy a season pass to all national parks if you plan to go to all three, but their daily fees are around $30 on the average. Maybe the totals are about the same though. Zion and Bryce Canyon don't have a shared day pass unfortunately.

If you travel in mid-summer, keep your eyes open for road debris on the interstate highways, there are often large bits of tyres from trucks in the hot weather. This is not so much of a problem at this time of year. If you haven't booked a Vegas stay yet, consider the Rio, it is not quite on the strip but the views of the strip are therefore better and they have a shuttle if you don't fancy the ten minute walk. As for Utah motels, you can get fairly good accoms in smaller towns for under $100 a night if you book ahead. Just don't expect much night life, Utah is mostly about scenery and wide open spaces.

Excellent write-up. Thank you.

Thanks for all the help and suggestions. We're not going until the end of Sept/ early Oct but I can't wait!

ceadaoin.

Duff wrote: »

Excellent write-up. Thank you.

Thanks for all the help and suggestions. We're not going until the end of Sept/ early Oct but I can't wait!

The weather should be perfect then, not too hot and monsoon season will be over.

circular flexing

I would recommend overnighting near Grand Canyon, sunrise and sunsets are something else plus it's great for looking at the stars. We stayed in Williams, don't think it was too expensive for a hotel there. There is other places closer.

RobertKK

I went to Zion NP, Bryce Canyon NP, Monument Valley, Grand Canyon on a camping trip from Vegas, 3 days and 2 nights and I had never camped before.
The facilities were great and we camped near Bryce Canyon NP and on a ledge overlooking monument valley, truly spectacular.
We went to the south rim of the Grand Canyon. It was just a great camping trip.
Also took a day trip from Vegas to Death Valley, it was around 119F the day we were there, our bus got into trouble as we headed to Badwater basin, our driver got the minibus to crawl back to Furnace creek where we had shelter from the heat. The driver said we could die from the heat if he continued and the minibus totally stopped moving. So a replacement was brought from Vegas andntheee hours later, we were asked if we wanted to continue or head back to Vegas, everyone wanted to continue. We had been gambling in the headquarters for the NP while we were waiting, it was nice chatting with people from elsewhere and we had fun, we weren’t sure if it was legal to gamble but the national park rangers didn’t seem to mind. Really enjoyed that trip.
I love all the national parks in the US...

jme2010

M.T. Cranium wrote: »

If you haven't booked a Vegas stay yet, consider the Rio, it is not quite on the strip but the views of the strip are therefore better and they have a shuttle if you don't fancy the ten minute walk.

Great write up. Only thing I disagree is with the Rio.

I've stayed on the far end of the strip and it just isn't worth the extra few bucks in savings, that you lose anyway on super expensive taxis.

I spent another trip bang in the middle of the strip and I won't be changing that location if I go back. Maybe in a few years with possible family etc or when I'm a lot older I'd stay downtown. But for the nightlife and action you should stay close to Bellagio / Caesars / LINQ