Many travelers are unaware that when you plan to visit national parks like Bryce and Zion that it is better to plan a trip that includes camping and several days instead of just one. This is because the national parks are situated quite far from the nearest city where you can get a hotel room, or find an airport that will service flights from other parts of the country. With regards to Bryce and Zion, Las Vegas is the closest city to plan your trip from. It will take about one-half day to drive to Zion, which is closer to the city than Bryce, and you should plan on camping in Zion before driving to Bryce the next day. It is far less distance from Zion to Bryce than it is from Las Vegas to Bryce, which is why many tour companies based in Las Vegas offer the two parks as part of a larger tour which does a “loop” as it visits different parks.
The majority of tour companies that use Las Vegas as their base of operations offer Bryce and Zion as part of a tour that will also include Monument Valley and the Grand Canyon. This is because by visiting all of these parks on the same trip you can start in Las Vegas and drive to Zion Canyon then hop from park to park in a loop shape that will position the last park closer to Las Vegas. This reduces the amount of time spent driving, and maximizes the amount of time that can be spent exploring the parks themselves.
Because Zion is the closest park to Las Vegas, which is a major tourist hub and sees millions of visitors each year, it is also the most popular national park to visit in the American southwest. As a result of a very effective advertising campaign over the last few years, combined with an added interest in the outdoors and exploration, Zion has visitor numbers each year that are nearing capacity. There is even an effort to explore ways of potentially reducing the amount of people that visit the park every year. One of these ways is through promotion of less popular parks as alternatives, Bryce being one of them.
By booking a tour as part of a tour group instead of driving to the park yourself, you can help to reduce the amount of cars that are creating traffic issues in the parks lately. You will also be provided with the ability to rest along the drive instead of being tired when you get there. Inquire to the different tour companies that provide Bryce and Zion tours from Las Vegas as to your options, and do your part to reduce the damage that is occurring in these natural spaces.