The Grand Canyon is not do-able by car in this amount of time. I simply wouldn't take the chance on this very long drive, and I wouldn't want to keep my luggage in the car all day. I'ts probably technically possible (I'm sure it is), but you'd have no room for error and would have to make it a mad dash.

It's much easier to do a day-trip to Red Rock and Mount Charleston, but Death Valley is also too far for a day (for me at least).

If you want to see the Canyon, then a helicopter ride or simply a flight there and back is your best bet (in my opinion). I'm not an advocate of the helicopter flights. They're disruptive in the park, but flying to the airport by the Canyon and visiting the park on the ground is a good alternative. But it's probably more expensive.

I'm going to make another suggestion: Valley of Fire State Park. It's just over an hour drive from Las Vegas and it's beautiful.

http://www.americansouthwest.net/nevada/valley_of_fire/state_park.html

Grand Canyon NP is a 5-hour drive in each direction, so not a good daytrip.

The helicopter rides from Las Vegas do not go to the "real" Grand Canyon. Do not waste your time and money on that.

You could fly to the Grand Canyon south Rim (there is an airpport at Tusayan, just outside the park entrance) and companies do day tours by airplane there from Las Vegas. But they may not get you back in time for your 9 pm flight.

Valley ifre is a good option or, if you want to drive a bit farther, Zion National Park is a 2.5 hour drive each way.

Grand Canyon is certainly doable as a day trip by car. It's 4.5 - 5 hours each way, and that time estimate is fairly reliable. Before the new bridge opened by Hoover Dam you could get stuck behind some pretty heavy traffic but that's not a big deal anymore. Bus tours do the same trip every day and generally get back around 9 or 10 pm. But it's a very long day of driving and you'd want to get up and leave very early to maximize your time there and make sure you can give yourself enough time to get back without stressing. And of course check weather conditions because a snow storm could seriously slow you down.

Death Valley is doable but it's such a big park that I wouldn't combine it with anything else.

Valley of Fire was more interesting than Red Rock I thought. Both are nice and I think you could feasibly visit both in one day.

Consider the day trip to Red Rock Canyon area. It's about 30-minute's drive from Strip, and there is a good visitor's center (opens @ 8 am) and much to see. Once you pay entrance fee ($7 per car) there are several hikes (easy to strenuous) available along the Scenic Drive (approx 13 miles), which is accessible via main entrance off Rt 159 (Charleston Blvd). The Scenic Drive opens at 6 am, so after a few hours along here, you could opt to continue northwest via scenic Rt 160 (aka Blue Diamond Road), toward town of Pahrump for lunch. I drove it in under an hour while heading to the Pahrump Winery in early-December, where I enjoyed an excellent lunch (steak and wine) in the onsite restaurant, Symphony. I received a free wine tour afterward and tasting as well. The tour is short and encompasses a small area, so there wasn't a ton of walking to do. I bought two bottles of their delicious cream sherry from the onsite wine shop, and had them shipped back east.
There's not much else to do in tiny Pahrump proper, so I gassed up and headed back toward the Strip during a gorgeous sunset and was back at my hotel by dark.
Another worthwhile day trip is driving to the amazing Valley of Fire, where there are stunning rock formations, short hikes, visible petroglyphs, and other historical tidbits.

One choice: Death Valley by going north on 95 to Beatty, then west with a stop at Rhyolite an ghost town with a house made of bottles, then a stop at pit toilets at the highest point for a panorama of the valley and down into the valley and south with stops at Borax Works, VC, Devil's golf course, Badwater, through Artist Pallet drive, back north then east to Zebriski Point and on to Parumph and back to Vegas. Bring a lunch and drinks.

Another choice: Valley of Fire drive north on i - 15 to the sign for VoF then go east through the park. Do stop at the Bee hives, Atl Atl rock, hike out to Mouse's Tank, drive to the panoramic point, stop at the CCC cabins, the VC and continue east through the park then head south along Lake Meade. If there is time, go to Hoover Dam before heading back to Vegas. Bring a lunch and drinks.

Both are great trips and if it is rainy or snowy at all go to VoF.

Agree with enzian, skip the helicopter, it will take you to tourist trap Grand Canyon West, and if the brochure mentions the Skywalk, run quickly in the opposite direction.

i'd do the valley of fire, lake meade, hoover dam it's a reasonable amount of things to do in one day without having to get up really, really early or worry about getting back in time.
my second choice would be zion.

Suggest you go for it and try to see the Grand Canyon, however you decide.

If not - Red Rock Canyon is fun - and you could combine that with an easy trip down into Hoover Dam.

Valley of Fire is beautiful but takes at least half a day, so if you see Red Rock - you could take it easy the rest of the day closer to Las Vegas.

Thanks a ton everyone. This is a big help.

As has been mentioned, it possible to see the Grand Canyon (South Rim) as a very long day trip from Las Vegas. In fact, there are bus tours that do just this. But it does take up the whole day.

No question, the GC is an amazing sight. However, if you have to catch a flight out of Las Vegas that same evening, I definitely wouldn't risk it. Do this when you have the whole day with no other commitments -- you'll need it.

The only way this would work would be to rent the car at 9PM for a 24 hour rental and drive directly to the Hacienda Casino which is 2 miles from Hoover Dam. Get up early and see Hoover Dam and then head for the South Rim via Kingman AZ.
I had a very nice room at the Hacienda last week. I also had a good buffet with turkey and ham for less than $10/pp including the tip.
There is a helicopter tour that takes off from the hill next to the Hacienda parking lot that flies over Hoover Dam and Lake Meade if that interests you.

grand canyon is a waste of time
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death valley is spectacular

Grand Canyon - never a waste of time IMO

unless you take the time and effort to walk down into it....its a waste of the time it takes to get there.
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much much much better places to spend time...
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1. zion
2. bryce
3. death valley