Las Vegas is a perfect city to begin your tour of several different national parks, essentially due to it’s proximity and the fact that it is well established as a tourist location. Las Vegas has more hotel rooms and restaurants than any other city in the world, making the choices for almost any budget plentiful. It is also a tourist location in it’s own right with millions of visitors arriving every year to enjoy the gambling, shows and entertainment. I addition to the obvious, Las Vegas is one of the nearest cities that can support major airline traffic to many of the southwestern national parks, making it an obvious choice for anyone who does not live within driving distance of the park they want to visit. Nearly every national park is around 4 hours drive from a major city at a minimum, making it necessary to pick a starting city for most tours. Las Vegas and Salt Lake City are the most obvious choices as they are the nearest cities to most parks that support commercial airline traffic.
If you are planning a national parks tour from Las Vegas, the first thing you are going to need to decide is which park you want to go to. Las Vegas is only 2.5 hours from Zion, which makes it one of the most popular parks to visit for people who choose Las Vegas as a starting point. There are many visitors who will choose to visit Zion specifically because of the distance from Las Vegas, as it can be visited in a single day. A more popular choice is to drive from Las Vegas to Zion and then camp overnight before moving on to one of the other parks which are around 2 hours from Zion. These choices include Bryce, Monument Valley and the Grand Canyon, as well as Antelope Canyon if the weather is cooperative. Antelope Canyon closes if there is a possibility of rain due to the dangers of flash flooding that are present, so it is best to have a backup plan if you are planning on visiting Antelope Canyon. Lake Powell is in the area, as well as the Grand Canyon if your plans for Antelope Canyon fall through due to weather.
Death Valley is also a close national park to Las Vegas, being in the southern California area and being located about 2 hours drive. If you plan on visiting Death Valley, you may want to consider going in the spring or fall as the weather is far more tolerable. All in all, there are numerous national park choices that are all within a one-half day drive of Las Vegas. Many of the touring companies will have multiple choices depending on how much time you have to spend, and what you want to see. It makes sense to visit multiple parks because the drive time from Las Vegas to the first parks is less than if you tried to drive directly. You can minimize your driving time and maximize your exploration time…..or you can call us and leave it all up to a professional!