Grand Canyon Travel Forum

Hi! My friends and I are planning a road trip in the month of July and are completely confused!

We want to visit Monument valley from Vegas but i read its a 8.5 hrs drive from vegas. Where can we stay there? My friends dont want to visit the Bryce or the Zion National Park. From Monument valley how far and which road shd we take to get to Grand Canyon? From Grand Canyon we wish to drive down to LA.

Thanx a lot once again!

The reason that it is 8.5 hours from LV is that Monument Valley is way the heck East of Las Vegas. If you look at the miles between LV and MV and figure 60 MPH, this is a long way. I find it funny that you would rather see Monument Valley rather than Zion and Bryce which are amazing. ( not that monument valley is not special, but it is way out of the way) As to the Grand Canyon, there are many places to enjoy the spectical of GC, i.e. North Rim, South Rim, but that area is huge. Unless you have a specific interest in an area of the Grand Canyon, you should pick a closer point to LA, and check it out for a few hours, and then head to LA.

You can look at the following websites for general information: (1) www.utah.com/monumentvalley & (2) www.go-utah.com/monument-valley. As Roadquill has stated, the scope of the area you wish to visit is deceivingly large. I normally don't recommend group tours, but this might be a case where one is a good idea. That is a lot of driving in an unfamiliar area that can be pretty daunting. Gary

You don't mention how much time you will be traveling and that would be the key to going to Monument Valley. It is also important to get reservations as soon as possible because there are limited accomodations available in the area. As the other postings mention it is quite a distance from LV and you should reconsider not stopping at various places along the way unless your time is very limited.

Wow.

I am curious why you are so intrigued by Monument Valley. I've been there and it is cool but somewhat limited compared to other National Parks.

Have you done MapQuest for the recommended routes?

I strongly feel it would be worth your time to briefly viit Bryce and Zion - even just a "drive through". If you don't want to do that, I would run East of Vegas to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and then on to Monument Valley. I guess you would have to reverse course. You and your friends might not ever get back to the great SouthWest in your life times. I ALWAYS try to drive two different routes to see different things!

You don't mention how much time you have - please let us know, it would be of great value. You ca e-mail me - look at some of my pages for further informatin about opportunities in the area.

I would do the following if you are limited on time - go to the Grand Canyon (contact Xanterra for rooms inside the Park) - then go to Monument Valley - go West to Page, AZ (Lake Powell, Antelope Canyon) and cut over to South West Utah and drive through Zion NP onyour way back to Vegas.

You still have time to get hotel reservations and plan your route. Plase let me know if I can help!

Mike in Iowa

Heyy..thanx so much..thats exactly the route we have thought of (if we decide to visit Monument..indecisive on that!)...visit Grand Canyon- South Rim..stay overnight..then move on to Monument..stay overnight at PAge (where to stay at lake Powell/Page?)...and then pass through Bryce Zion and head to Vegas..we have abt 3 days starting from GC to Zion (and stay overnight at Vegas again!)..

Thinking of staying at the Bright Angel's lodge in GC..any other better suggestions?

I would agree with another reply about skipping Mon. Valley. I suggest a circuitous route around the GC. You can reserve rooms at the South and North rims at www.grandcanyonlodges.com, they will probably have very few rooms left and they will be expensive. Keep trying often for rooms at Bright Angel Lodge, I did this for our trip and one eventually "opened up". They are the least expensive and I believe the all the rooms have 1 queen bed. The next least expensive is Maswik Lodge. Do yourself a favor and take at least a short hike "below the rim". I believe less than 1% of visitors do this. You will get a real feel for the GC's awesome beauty and grandeur, not to mention a few bragging rights! Have a GREAT TRIP to one of the world's natural wonders!