philjo1

My husband are going to Las Vegas for a conference at the end of March and want to tack on a mini-vacation afterwards. We've rented an SUV, and we'll basically have Tues afternoon - Fri to tour. We've been to Grand Canyon, Zion, and Bryce before, and we love them all, but it's been several years, so I can't remember the driving distances. I've read through some of the related forum posts, and I'm getting more and more confused as to which way to go. We both like the outdoors, hiking, SNOW, historical sites, and good food. I would welcome your advice on what route to take, sites to see, places to stay, you name it!

WhereAreWe

Go to Death Valley since you haven't been there. It has plenty of historical sites and hiking. Not really any snow except on the mountains, and that will be inaccessible to you.

You can go to Red Rock Canyon on the way there.

MmePerdu

If your heart is not set on the Grand Canyon area Death Valley is an easy drive from Las Vegas and can be approached 2 ways as you can see on a map. In addition, if you didn't want to stay there you could drive west into California to Hwy 395 and up past Bishop, Mammoth Lakes, Mono Lake, Bodie State Historical Park. 395 is one of my all time favorite drives up the eastern side of the Sierra Nevadas/Mt. Whitney. I did the drive twice in the fall including Death Valley, going and coming, and it never disappoints.
http://www.nps.gov/deva/index.htm
http://www.nps.gov/deva/historycultu...tys-castle.htm
http://parks.ca.gov/?page_id=509
http://www.visitmammoth.com/
http://www.bishopvisitor.com/

spirobulldog

Since you've been to the rest I would also vote for Death Valley. You could stop at Red Rock Canyon to or from DV.

Since you have an SUV,(I assume that means High Clearance)
Drive Titus Canyon in DV. I really wanted to do Racetrack Playa(where the rocks move mysteriously), but it is really risky on tires. Keep in mind that either of these drives probably are against most car rental policies(which I ignore-I think my insurance would cover me-but if you did have some sort of trouble, just be aware that the costs could be very huge).
If you've rented a Subaru, that is a 4 wheel drive, but it isn't a high clearance vehicle.

InSandy

North Rim of the Grand Canyon will be closed in March, so trying to combine the South Rim with Zion and Bryce in that short of a time frame would be hard.
You could have a nice visit in 3 1/2 days to Zion and Bryce and some of the state parks along the way such as Valley of Fire and Snow Canyon.

Head north on I-15 to the turn off for Valley of Fire, then from there stay along the Lake Mead road to Overton (I hear the Lost City museum is worth a stop but I never have had the time).
From there to St George on I-15 is straight forward. It is about 2 hrs from LV to St George-- add in at least two for Valley of Fire.

It will be another 1 hrs to Zion - turn off on hwy 9 to Hurricane. (remember you'll change time zones)
From Zion to Bryce is about 2 hrs, along hwy 9 to 89 to hwy 12. Coming back you might take hwy 148 from Panguitch and stop off at Cedar Breaks, though it is a bit of a let down after the other two. and btw hwy 14 is closed to through traffic due to a landslide that they don't expect will be cleared before july.

You could take the back road to Snow Canyon via hwy 56 to 18 and then the old road to Mesquite hwy 191.

If you want something different, Death Valley would be nice that time of year.

boom_boom

IF the Sierra Nevada get anything like a normal snowfall for the rest of the year, the drive up 395 (if you want to go north of Death Valley) is hard to beat that time of year. Usually no shortage of snow on the mountains, ski areas and snow play areas open along the route. Bodie, if the road is is open well worth the time. Also if you get as far as Carson City take a detour and either visit Lake Tahoe or the historic (but touristy) mining town of Virginia City.
The downside - not really a practical loop back to LV if you go that far north so there is a lot of retracing your route.

MmePerdu

Regarding what boom_boom has said about ways back to Las Vegas, if you run into weather keep in mind altitude. For instance, route 168 into Big Pine is higher than 190/136 into Lone Pine so if you get precipitation obviously take the lower road. And Tom's Place north of Bishop is a high spot where the road might be closed if there's snow.

Just be aware of the possibilities. The drive is just stunning, definitely worth the extra attention. I don't think there's a stretch of road anywhere that's more beautiful.

K_Bot

How about Flagstaff and Sedona? Flagstaff has the SnowBowl, which offers both downhill and cross-country skiing conditions permitting. Sedona has lots of beautiful hikes and good food. You could even make a little detour through Jerome (old mining town turned artists' colony) and Clarkdale before heading back to Las Vegas, maybe detour via Laughlin for a change of pace. Map ->: http://g.co/maps/vwb88