Because we provide tours to national parks in the vicinity of the southwestern United States, and leave from Las Vegas as our starting point on all of these tours, many people will often wonder what time of year is best to book your tours. Las Vegas gets quite hot in the summer months, and during the height of the summer will be nearly impossible to spend any significant amount of time outside. Most of Las Vegas tourism between June and September will involve staying inside and potentially spending a few hours at a pool, but the thought of hiking at Red Rock or exploring some of the remote areas outside of the city can become downright dangerous. You need to prepare for any time that you are going to be spending more than a few hours outside, making sure that you have adequate amounts of water and sunblock so as not to have your trip become unpleasant. When people plan on visiting national parks in the area and using Las Vegas as the starting point, many times they will think that the weather is going to be the same when they get there. This is far from the case, and most times there will be variations of up to 30 degrees between the city and the parks you visit.
The most extreme examples of this are usually found in Zion and Bryce, which are two of the most popular destinations from Las Vegas because they are located within a few hours drive of the city. On a typical Las Vegas 100 degree summer day, these areas are going to have highs in the mid-eighties. The nighttime is going to cool down significantly probably landing at lows around 55 or 60, while at the same time Las Vegas would be seeing lows in the high eighties. These variations in temperature between the city that you leave from and the area you are exploring during the day can be shocking in their difference, but they do not apply in the same way to all the parks. For example, the Grand Canyon on a 100 degree day in Las Vegas will probably also be around 100 degrees, with the temperatures at night going down much cooler than the city. Each park has it’s own weather patterns and it is going to be difficult to plan for all of them before hand. For this reason it is best to plan for almost anything, meaning to wear layers of clothing mixing long and short sleeves, bring a hat and maybe even a sweatshirt even if it is 100 degrees when you leave the city. You need to prepare for both warm and cold extremes, and the weather forecast in Las Vegas is probably not going to accurately tell you what you will encounter when you are in a remote location.
Summer hiking in the national parks of the southwest is generally warm, but not unbearably hot. If you are from the east coast or middle of the country, it probably resembles spring as closely as it can. The best idea is to pack for it and plan for it before you leave home, understanding that you are going to be outside in an unpredictable environment.