Road trip! Check out these amazing parks near Las Vegas

Did you know there are seven awesome parks that are within driving distance of Las Vegas? 

Time to start planning your next road trip! These are the parks and their distances, in the parentheses, from Las Vegas. 

1. Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area: 24 km (15 miles)

2. Valley of Fire State Park: 74 km (46 miles)

3. Zion National Park: 241 km (150 miles)

4. Bryce Canyon National Park: 418 km (260 miles)

5. Horseshoe Bend in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area: 443 km (275 miles)

6. Antelope Canyon in Lake Powell Navajo Tribal Park: 449 km (279 miles)

7. Grand Canyon National Park: 440 (274 miles)

It’s possible to drive to all of these great parks in one trip but I wouldn’t recommend this unless you have lots of time. I’ve been to all of these parks, but I did it over three or four trips. There’s nothing worse than rushing.

If you’re planning your own road trip and have about a week, I have a great itinerary that I followed recently on a road trip to Utah and Arizona. It’s one of my very favourites ever and the best part is, it’s easily amended to suit your tempo.

Start and end in Las Vegas:

1. Las Vegas to Zion National Park (2.5 hours)

2. Zion NP to Bryce Canyon National Park (1 hour, 45 minutes)

3. & 4. Bryce Canyon NP to Antelope Canyon and Horsehoe Bend near Page, AZ (2.5 hours)

5. Antelope/Horseshoe Bend to Las Vegas (4.5 hours)

Make sure you slot in some time to relax. In an effort to be efficient with my days (ie. save money), I only allotted enough time for driving and seeing the sights. I allowed no time for lineups or for plain ol’ relaxation, and so everything felt more rushed than I wanted.

I saw everything on my list but to be honest I would have loved a couple of afternoons to just lounge by the pool. I actually came home kind of exhausted.

Comment below if you do a road trip like this ... I’d love to hear from you.

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Find more travel inspiration on my Instagram, @JuanitaNg

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