Grand Canyon Travel Forum

I am landing in Vegas at midnight on Thursday night March 13th. I want to move staright towards the grand canyon driving for an hour so that i can stay teh night outside vegas for cheaper motel and then next morning cut out some driving time towards the Grand Canyon. We want to spend the day viewing the Canyon and going to the sky-walk. If we can walk the rim or somehow reach the bottom of the valley it would be great. I want to lodge ther for the night and then leave next morning towards monument valley and then towards Vegas.
Can anyone help me to plan a route for this and also suggest if I am missing out on something. I plan to be back in vegas by Saturday evening.

Thanks Kiran.

Some things you might not be aware of about the GC. First the most popular destingation is the South Rim which is several hours drive from Las Vegas. The sky walk is nearer Vegas but not at the South Rim. Lodging at the South Rim is very popular and you may not be able to get reservations on such short notice. Finally, the Park Rangers strongly advise not trying to hike to the bottom of the canyon and back in one day and rescue 4 or 5 people a week who try it (most males between the ages of 18 and 40). Having said all that, it is a stupendous sight and I hope you will go there. If you can't get lodging at the South Rim, try Williams which is about 50 miles from it.

The skywalk in on the North Rim but there's more opportunities for lodging on the south rim. There's also some day hikes you can take down into the canyon from there but it's not really feasible to reach the bottom and come back in one day. I wrote up a little adventure I had there with my brother and I on the road to the canyon and whatnot that might have a few pointers for you on http://www.wuts-happening.com/whutshappening/2008/01/cross-country-3.html. You might wanna check that out for some ideas about stuff to do at the canyon and around there. Hope this helped.

Do you realise that it is 300 miles from the GC village to Monument Valley.?
>>Suggest if I am missing out on something<< - Yes,lots if you do all this in 2 days.

You asked for advice, so don't be offended if I give it. Some of this is hard, but it seems you need some good advice.

Several months ago -- make lodging reservations at South Rim. Your odds of getting lodging at the Rim with only a week to go are about the same as winning at Vegas.
Before today -- read about the Grand Canyon, so you understand that the Skywalk is at the "West Rim" and costs $75 per person to visit. The "South Rim" of the Canyon is within the National Park, has far superior views, and costs much less to visit. Also look at a map to see you can NOT leave the Grand Canyon, drive to and visit Monument Valley, and return to Vegas all in one day.
Today -- make lodging reservations at Tusayan or, if that fails, at Williams.
Midnight, March 13 -- after you get off the plane in the middle of the night, with jetlag clouding your mind even more, do ANYTHING but drive a car. Get a good night rest so you don't kill innocent people, or yourself, by driving a car when you'll be a zombie.
Day One, after a good night's sleep -- leave Vegas by going southeast on US Hiway 93. Take a quik stop at Hoover Dam. Continue on towards Kingman, where you get on I-40 east towards Williams. There, go north on Hiway 64 towards the Grand Canyon, getting onto US Hiway 180 to enter the National Park. Spend the rest of the day viewing the Canyon from as many overlooks as you can, at as many times of the day as you can. Do NOT miss the Canyon at sunset.
Day Two -- Be at the Rim by sunrise. Hike down the Bright Angel Trail (my recommendation) or the South Kaibab Trail, with proper preparation, until you START to feel tired or sore, then immediately turn around and go back up. Even if you hike for only thirty minutes, you'll experience the Canyon in a way that most visitors do not. Return to Vegas the same route.

You can take a look at the following web site for the Grand Canyon area: www.nps.gov/grca. This site will have links regarding lodging, weather, road conditions, and what areas of the park and trails are closed. In mid-March, the north rim will definitely be closed due to snow, as will many of the trails, and possibly some of the lodging. The site also has a link to the state road condition numbers. Those could be very important as well. You may wish to visit the following website for Las Vegas: www.a2zlasvegas.com. I believe you could quite easily find a hotel room in Las Vegas for a better price than one on the way, or at the Canyon. You can also look at that site to see if there are bus tours from Las Vegas to the Canyon, or other nearby destinations, that interest you. As has been mentioned, that is a huge area, which is sparsely populated. Most of the area is at elevation, so, in mid-March, you are going to see snow, probably a lot. It is not the best place for a fast-paced driving adventure. Gary

Hi!
I have been travelling the Southwest last year. I definitely recommend you to take a map and plan your trip there. You will notice that distances in the US are reeeaaaly easy to be underestimated.

During my trip I tried to stay overnight somewhere at the Southrim, but even 4 weeks before being there it was useless to continue trying. So I recommend to stay in Williams overnight. This is the last bigger city when approaching the Southrim from Vegas. You will need a few hours for just driving along the rim if you plan to stop at the many parkings (you will receive a map at the entrance to the park -> http://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/upload/GRCAmap2.pdf).
Regarding your idea to hike to the bottom of the canyon, I think this is impossible with your schedule. It is more than a kilometer in altitude you will have to climb down (several climate zones) and the next day the same upwards before driving back. I recommend to skip this! Also Monument valley in that short schedule will be just a hurry, or even impossible.

So my recommendation: Take your time and try to get a bed in Williams. Drive from Vegas to the Grand Canyon, take your time for the different views. Then continue back to Williams for the night. The next day you can head back towards Vegas and have a stop at the Hoover Dam, which is also definitely worth to be seen. From there it is pretty short to Vegas (1 hour).

By the way, before going to Monument valley I definitely would prefer the Bryce Canyon. That is breathtaking!

Take care and have fun anyway ;)
Christian.