First, you don't see ANY of the Grand Canyon from the train. It would be just that...a train ride. You see the same scenery by driving. If you have limited time, then I'd say skip the train ride. From the Grand Canyon village towards Desert View there are many overlooks that you will need a car to see.

If at all possible AVOID the Grand Canyon over the Memorial Day weekend.

Doing day trips from Las Vegas to Utah parks would involve way to much driving. Las Vegas to Zion is 160 miles one way and that's the closest park. Bryce is another 86 miles and these are just one way. You are really much better doing this on your way to Las Vegas from the Grand Canyon.

How long do you have for this trip? You might want to check the one way car rental fees before you book your lodging because I hear they can be very high.

Utahtea

I agree with utahtea about the train. When you go to Grand Canyon, from i-40 go up 89 to 64 and in from the east, stop at the fantastic view points along the way in.

Why are you flying into New Mexico? There is a ton to see/do there but you haven't mentioned anything that would interest you there. You could see Albuquerque and Santa Fe with perhaps a side trip to Bandelier NP or down to White Sands NP or over to Chaco Canyon NP to name a few.

On the way west you could stop at el Morro/Inscription rock. In Arizona there are Canyon de Chelley, Painted Desert/Petrified Forrest, Walnut Canyon, Wupatki, Sunset Crater as well as Grand Canyon. Then go out through Williams and stop at Hoover Dam/Lake Meade on the way to Vegas and then a few days to go up to Zion and Bryce.

If you are planning on doing a one way ending in Vegas, be aware that there will be a stiff drop off charge.

You could do a loop, hitting the places along 40 in one direction and then going to Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef and perhaps the Page/Lake Powell area in the other direction.

In any case, check price for flights and car rentals going from Vegas as well as Albuquerque.
You could do a loop or even a one way in either direction. Your trip is a very long one, but there are some spectacular things to be seen along the way.

classic.mapquest.com directions distances

When I did this last flew southwest.com into ABQ then carrentals.com 1 way to Vegas. innatloretto.com visitsedona.com Hyatt Grand Canyon El Tovar and Venetian in
Vegas tripres.com was GREAT for us.

Might consider something like that way less hassle.

Good luck!

We enjoyed going from Albeq up to the artist colony of Sante Fe and then on Taos (also took the Circle of fire? drive above Taos - past the ski area)- even going to a "Pow Wow" a gathering of Native Americn tribes for dancing, etc - and then on through northern NM (Chama - http://www.chamavalley.com/ - and past Shipwreck? Rock - and over to 4 corners and on to Monument Valley - and also saw the Navajo National Monument - just west of Monument Valley.

regarding NM. Years ago we enjoyed Acoma Sky City near Albeq.

More recently we really enjoyed the hike to and through the "Tent Rocks" near Santa Fe. We also went to Bandelier, but though we enjoyed it, the fire and flooding had limited some of it. Still it was a beautiful drive and easy hike.

If the drop off fee is too much, consider flying to Flagstaff and renting the car returning the car to Flagstaff and taking the Southwest Chief (Amtrak) from Flagstaff to ABQ. Rent another car to see what you want outside Albuquerque.
The SW Chief is scheduled in Flagstaff at 4:41AM (often late).
The scheduled time in ABQ is 11:42AM (6 hours) The adult fare is only $60.

Bryce, Zion and North Rim of Grand Canyon work well.

How many days do you have for your trip?

What are your interests? New Mexico is beautiful, but without knowing what made you think of including it in your itinerary, it's hard to know what to recommend.

If you want to search for things to do - our state capital is Santa Fe (not Sante Fe); Albuquerque is never abbreviated Albeq; the road tomsd refers to is the Enchanted Circle, which is a lovely drive; and it's Shiprock, not Shipwreck Rock.

If you only have a week to ten days, and you really want to see the national parks, I would skip NM and do a loop from Las Vegas.

Lee Ann

Hey - I used to live in San Francisco - which I now online/shorthand refer to as SF - and I even call it 'Frisco sometimes - which is presumably more upsetting to the Bay Area residents than online referring to Albuquerquie as Albeg (which is also quite hard to spell - at least for moi) and also mis-spelling the Santa on Fe.

And thanks Elen - as the Enchanted Circle is the drive I was thinking of - going up from Taos town - at some point - pulling into the Taos ski area - and also going past the Ski Resort called Angel Fire (named for the appearance of the early/late sun on the trees/hills) - and on past the lake over to the western styled town of Red River was it - and their ski area.

http://enchantedcircle.org/enchanted-circle-scenic-byway.php

BTW - we liked the drive along 40 from Flagstaff over to Albeq - as you could see the beautiful red hills along the way.

It's not upsetting - as you say, it's already hard to spell (I've lived here 25 years and I still have trouble) so correct spelling can help in a search.

The Enchanted Circle is lovely. We drove most of it last year. Did you happen to stop at the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial in Angel Fire? It's quite moving.

Lee Ann

ABQ is what we normally use as an abbreviation [airport code] and since it is spelled Albuquerque, Albeq just doesn't work.

There is lots to see and do here, with wonderful natural sites, vistas, and lots to learn about appreciating our puebloan and hispanic heritage.

Knowing your interests would help with suggestions for NM.

Elen - I did briefly stop by the Vietnam Memorial - and yes - it is moving, but so was I.

And Debit - will try to remember to use ABQ. dos

BTW - in Santa Fe - I also went to a WWII? museum - up on the hill - and that was very interesting. Will see if I can google it.

I think this is the one - and it's called the Baatan Death March memorial - or some such - but it had a lot of WWII displays and history of New Mexico units service.

http://santafe.org/perl/page.cgi?p=maps;gid=2412

Here's a little more about this small - but very interesting WWII Museum.

http://www.bataanmuseum.com/visit

utahtea, I realized we wouldnt see from train, we planned to take shuttles in the Canyon. thanks for all the feedback everyone. And only reason we included NM in the mix is cause we are trying to visit all 50 states. have been to 35 plus and may not get back to NM since we'll be doing all surrounding states. been to Tex and OK already. If we picked one city or area there what do you say New Mexicans? Suppose we could just do 4 corners if nothing else????