I think the people who frequent this site will say the fewer in Vegas the better.

Depending upon your arrival and departure flights your Vegas stay would either be at the start or end.

I haven't been to Lake Mead so others will have to comment. It does appear that you'll double back to drive to Zion and Bryce.

You can get a good feel for Bryce Canyon in a relatively short period of time. You can arrive in late afternoon, see the sunset, get up very early in the morning for a spectacular sunrise at Bryce point, hike Navajo Loop down and Queens Garden back up and then drive along the scenic road and make a few stops (Natural bridge is the most different and possibly Inspiration Point). You will have been to Sunset and Sunrise Points with the hike). You could easily complete the above by early afternoon.

Zion has more diverse things to see so you'll probably want to spend more time there depending upon you interests.

jp,

What do you plan to do at Lake Mead? It's not very scenic.

I'm one who hates LV, so I would say don't waste any of your short time there!

If you can plan your trip to get in to Vegas by noon, you can be in Zion by late afternoon. Spend 2 or 3 nights there than go to Bryce for a night.

If you like to hike a lot you might spend more time in either park, but if you only do moderate hikes, then 2/3 Zion, 1 Bryce will be ok.

You could then head back to Vegas. A loop through Valley of Fire, along Lake Meade, with a visit to Hoover dam makes a nice day trip and could be done in either direction.

From October to April, I also love going to Death Valley as a day trip from Vegas.

If you never have been to Vegas, you might want to do a walk up the strip and see the free "shows" along the way. Some people like to go to shows in Vegas, but you can often see the same kinds of productions locally or in NY without spending the money to travel so far when there is so much natural beauty close to Vegas.

If you put Zion and Bryce into the search box at the top of the page, you will find lots of threads on this.

flight times would be helpful to give you some advice. personally, if i flew into vegas by noon, i'd head to zion and bryce and spend my last night in vegas.

Thank you all for the advice
Leaning toward first 3 nights in the national parks then the last 2 in Vegas with a day trip to Hoover dam while in Vegas

Hi

is there a loop so we don't double back? any other parks to squeeze in? looks like arches is too far for this short trip?

thx

On the way back from Zion turn off at exit 95 to go to Valley of Fire State Park. From Valley of Fire you can come out on the highway on the west side of Lake Meade. You will hit US 93 just west of the Hacienda casino/hotel and Hoover Dam. Go visit Hoover Dam and then decide if you want to stay at the Hacienda or go to a hotel in Henderson. In Henderson I like the Fiesta.

We did a similar trip but over 10 days. You can read my trip report here to find details but we added North Rim of the Grand Canyon, Escalante and Capitol Reef. We went back to Vegas and visited the Hoover Dam at the end. We arrived in Vegas about noon, drove to our furthest point and then worked our way back. Have a great trip.