Drive from Vegas to Grand Canyon

keefg

Hi,

Anyone on here done the drive from Vegas to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon?

I have been to Vegas a few times before and I am heading back soon but I never got round to seeing the Canyon. I looked at mappoint.com and a few other places and they all give driving time as approx 5 hours.

Not sure if this is 5 hours at US 55 mph limit (or whatever it is) so just trying to find out realistic time

cheers

rossie1977

yeah i did the drive in April 1999. Its a long way. Driving non-stop would take a good 5 hours alrite. We stopped at the Hoover Dam (for about 5 minutes) and Kingman, Arizona for supplies and it took us 6 hours. The road from vegas to the south rim is really desolate; there are stretches where you won't see another car or human for miles on end. You do get to travel on part of the old historic route 66 though which is a bonus.

The south rim itself is packed with tourists. The only way you will truly appreciate the beauty and size of the grand canyon is if you hike down (you don't have to go all the way to the bottom, a 1-2 hour hike, a little of the way down will suffice).

Can i just recommend Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada too; much closer than the Grand Canyon (about 1 hour from las vegas) and well worth visiting.

keefg

Bummer. I was hoping that 5 hours was a conservative estimate and that I could trim it down if I put my foot down (without going too mad of course Don't wanna risk a speeding ticket)

Thanks for the tips.

mathias

The Wife and myself did that trip in Nov 2005 , it is long but was worth it. If you want a more scenic route then head to Sedona first , that is a beautiful place , and if you take the road from Sedona to the Canyon , well the drive is just Stunning . We saw wild Deer , some beautiful scenery , excellent !

There is a 45 minute helicoptor ride around the canyon available , that cost about 100 dollars and was worth every cent. Brilliant !

quickstitch.ie

Drove to North Rim if that's any use to you in '01 as above, the scenery is stunning, saw spectacular lightning storms getting there, was dark then so we slept in the minivan to watch the sun rise in the morning... very romantic for a group of 6 rugby players really... stop in some of the small towns if you get a chance, or have the time... good to get a little taste of nowhereville usa..
I must say tho, maybe I was a little underwhelmed... first off it was "christ! look at the size of that big hole in the ground"... it soon became... "look...it's still a hole in the ground..."

Caryatnid

Yep..... I did this drive last week. Would be at least five hours alright.
What about driving to Flagstaff and staying there? It's about 6hrs to Flagstaff.