Las Vegas National Parks Road Trip: Five Parks Within a Day of the Strip
Five national parks are within a day's drive of the Strip: Death Valley at 120 miles, Zion at 160, Bryce Canyon at 260, the Grand Canyon South Rim at 270 and Great Basin at 300. Add Joshua Tree at 220 if you are heading toward California. Only Death Valley makes a comfortable day trip. Zion can be done in a day at the cost of five hours in the car. The best short trip out of Vegas is a five day loop through Zion, Bryce and the Grand Canyon North Rim, about 700 miles. Our Las Vegas to Zion itinerary covers the first leg.
Drive times from the Strip
- Red Rock Canyon: 20 miles, 30 minutes. A conservation area rather than a national park, and the best half day escape in the city.
- Valley of Fire State Park: 55 miles, 1 hour. Red sandstone, petroglyphs and short trails.
- Death Valley, Furnace Creek: 120 miles, 2 hours.
- Zion, Springdale: 160 miles, 2 hours 40 minutes.
- Joshua Tree: 220 miles, 3 hours 30 minutes.
- Bryce Canyon: 260 miles, 4 hours.
- Grand Canyon North Rim: 265 miles, 4 hours 30 minutes, open mid May to mid October.
- Grand Canyon South Rim: 270 miles, 4 hours 30 minutes, open all year.
- Great Basin, Baker: 300 miles, 4 hours 30 minutes.
Which ones work as a day trip
Death Valley works. Two hours each way, and Zabriskie Point, Badwater Basin, the Mesquite Flat dunes and Artists Drive all sit within 30 miles of Furnace Creek. Go between November and March. A July day trip there is a bad idea at any hour.
Zion works, barely. Five hours 20 minutes of driving plus the shuttle means about five hours in the park. That is the Riverside Walk and the Emerald Pools, or the first two miles of the Narrows, and no rim hike. If Zion is the reason for the trip, stay a night in Springdale or Hurricane instead. Our Zion from Las Vegas guide breaks the timing down hour by hour.
The Grand Canyon does not. Nine hours of driving for a few hours on the rim. People do it on coach tours and regret it. Fly if you must do it in a day, or give it two nights in Tusayan. The Grand Canyon South Rim itinerary is built around two full days.
Bryce and Great Basin do not. Both are four hours plus each way at altitude, and Great Basin's Wheeler Peak road is closed by snow much of the year.
The five day loop: Zion, Bryce and the North Rim
About 700 miles, and the best week you can build out of Las Vegas between late May and early October.
- Day 1: Vegas to Springdale, 2 hours 40 minutes. Afternoon on the Pa'rus Trail and Canyon Overlook for sunset.
- Day 2: Zion. The Narrows bottom up, or Angels Landing if your permit came through.
- Day 3: Zion to Bryce, 90 minutes. Walk the Queen's Garden and Navajo Loop combination, then Sunset Point at dusk.
- Day 4: Bryce to the Grand Canyon North Rim, 3 hours 30 minutes. Bright Angel Point and the Transept Trail, and stay at the lodge if you booked a year out.
- Day 5: North Rim to Las Vegas, 4 hours 30 minutes, with the Kaibab Plateau and the Virgin River Gorge on the way.
Out of season, swap the North Rim for Capitol Reef, or turn west and finish in Death Valley.
The winter loop
From November to March the North Rim is shut and Bryce is under snow, which is beautiful and slow. The better cold season plan out of Vegas runs the other way: Death Valley for two days, Joshua Tree for two, and Mojave National Preserve on the way back. Nothing on that route is above 5,000 feet, everything is open, and the desert is at its best. See the best time to visit Death Valley and our Death Valley winter hiking itinerary.
Practical notes
- Rent the car off the Strip if you can. The airport rental centre adds concession fees to every day.
- One time zone catch: Nevada is Pacific and Utah and Arizona are Mountain, so the drive to Zion loses an hour. Arizona does not observe daylight saving, which makes the Grand Canyon the same clock as Vegas in summer.
- Fuel: fill up in Hurricane or Kanab rather than in Springdale, and never assume a pump on Highway 89 is open at night.
- An America the Beautiful pass at $80 beats $35 a park as soon as you visit three.
Have us build the loop
Tell us your dates and how much driving you are willing to do, and we will lay out the loop with permits, shuttle timings and beds already sorted. Planning is free, and we earn only if you book through us.
Las Vegas National Parks Road Trip: Five Parks Within a Day of the Strip FAQs
One hundred and sixty miles, about two hours 40 minutes each way. A day trip means roughly five and a half hours of driving and five hours in the park, so an overnight in Springdale or Hurricane gets you far more for the same fuel.
Death Valley, at 120 miles and about two hours to Furnace Creek. It is also the only one of the five that makes a relaxed day trip, and it is best from November through March.
Only by air, realistically. Driving to the South Rim is four and a half hours each way, so a day trip is nine hours in the car for a couple of hours on the rim. Two nights in Tusayan or Grand Canyon Village is the better plan.
A five day loop to Zion, Bryce Canyon and the Grand Canyon North Rim, about 700 miles. It works from late May to early October, when the North Rim road is open.
Five within a day's drive: Death Valley, Zion, Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon and Great Basin. Joshua Tree makes six if you are continuing into California, and Red Rock Canyon plus Valley of Fire add two more protected areas within an hour.
Yes. Nevada is on Pacific time and Utah is on Mountain time, so you lose an hour going to Zion or Bryce. Arizona stays on Mountain Standard year round and does not use daylight saving, so in summer the Grand Canyon runs on the same clock as Las Vegas.
