Grand Canyon Travel Forum

This is my first time to visit the Grand Canyon on our way to Las Vegas on the first week of May. Kindly give me directions from Los Angeles to South Rim Grand Canyon. What time do you think should I leave LA so that I can get good shots/view of grand canyon?

The best time to see it is at sunset or sunrise. Personally I prefer sunrise. You should probably allow 8 or 9 hours to get there, and the time of sunrise or sunset will be different depending on the day.

I haven't done this in many years, but Google maps has you on I-10 (40 miles plus) to I-15 for 72 miles, and then I-40 to Needles (320 miles) and from there it's another 55-60 miles.

Well, it is 500 miles from LA to the Grand Canyon south rim and Vegas is between LA and the GC. Maybe if you gave us a bit more info about your itinerary and times you could get better feedback.

We are planning to leave LA around 3AM so that we can be at the South Rim by noon. We will only spend few hours there and then we are heading to Las Vegas for several nights.

Thanks a lot for the quick reply. If we planning to make a stop for breakfast on our way to South Rim and also for gas. Any suggestions? Is there a place or resto where we can have lunch by the Rim?

Why don't you avoid getting up at 3 AM. Just get up at a normal time in LA, and travel only to Las Vegas. Since you apparently will spend several days in Las Vegas, just go to your hotel the first day. You can then choose a much more convenient time to visit the Canyon. If you limit yourself to a few hours on a specific day there is always the possibility of bad viewing weather. Gary

Some web sites that might be helpful: (1) Grand Canyon: www.nps.gov/grca, & (2) Las Vegas: www.a2zlasvegas.com. Gary

Noon is about the worst time to see the Canyon. The light is so flat that the size of the thing just isn't evident.

So I'd agree - go to Las Vegas first and make the trip from there.