People who visit Las Vegas are always taking trips to the Grand Canyon. The
closest viewing site is in an Indian reservation and takes about a 3 hour
drive to get to. It isn't the best view of the Canyon, but it is interesting.
No one seems to mention Zion Canyon, which is also about a 3 hour drive away.
I highly recommend this trip, especially if you can stay overnight for 1
night. Zion is more spectacular than the West Rim Indian-land view of the Grand
Canyon. There are many interesting walks you can take as well.
Seniors can buy a pass for National Parks for $10 (over 62 I believe) which
lasts forever. Disabled persons also get a break (I think it may be free).
Otherwise passes cost $20 for a trip.
We actually drove from Las Vegas to Capitol Reef State Park, a rather long
drive, but doable in 1 day. We stayed overnight, then drove to Bryce Canyon,
which is well worth a visit, then drove to Zion for an overnight, then back to
Las Vegas.
There are quite a few interesting parks in Utah including Canyonlands.
Nearby are Monument Valley, Kanab Utah (where many westerns have been filmed), and
the Grand Canyon.
Also within 1 day of Las Vegas is The Valley of Fire. Also Death Valley.
And of course quite close by is Red Rock Canyon.
If you are visiting Las Vegas for a few weeks, it is well worth taking a trip
to some of these nearby landmarks.
Midweek travel is best. During the summer some of these sites will be quite
crowded. We traveled in April, which is a great time of year for such an
excursion. We were snowed on, rained on, had clear skies, had light cloudy skies,
and saw a vast array of landscapes on our trip. We also saw a lot of
critters, including chipmunks, eagles, hawks, deer, more deer, rabbits, big big raven
or crow, hawks, squirrels, horses, cows, sheep, and some sort of unidentified
possum-like critter, and a few interesting birds we couldn't identify.
Be aware that Zion is undergoing some road work, so in the summer there could
be long waits due to traffic problems in the park.
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