Death Valley one day trip from Vegas?
 

We are flying into Vegas and staying with friends for 3 nights who will show us around, catch a show, whatever.

I am an amateur photographer. No one else cares about shooting. So I will most likely want to go off on my own. Any suggestions for day trips from Vegas?

After Vegas we drive to Laguna Beach for a weekend. Any suggestions for that leg of the trip?

We'll be in Southern Ca for a few days with friends from Rodundo Beach.

Then we head up to Yosemite for a few days.

We have 2 weeks.

BTW We are also looking at possible places to retire so that is part of the mind set for this trip.

I forgot to tell you we are traveling mid May.

>>After Vegas we drive to Laguna Beach for a weekend. Any suggestions for that leg of the trip?<<

Yep - make the trip as quickly as possible. Not much to see along the way.

Spend some time at Victoria Beach in Laguna.

Stu Dudley

We've gone to Death Valley as a day trip many times. My favorite way to go is the head north on 95 to Beatty then turn west (there is a sign), stop in at Rhyolite (ghost town with a house made of bottles for bricks) ,just a half mile off the road, stop at the top of the ridge. There are pit toilets on one side of the road and a fantastic view down the valley from the other side.

When you are down the ridge, head south, stop at all the neat places like Borax works, VC, Devil's Golf course, Artists pallet drive, Badwater and head back to Vegas through Parumph.

If you go in mid-May it will be starting get get pretty warm, so be prepared. Also, check on road condition between Beatty and Furnace Creek, there are currently some issues with getting between the 2 poinst.

Death Valley is great but I don't like it as a day trip from Vegas. I think its better as an overnight, especially for photography. It just looks kind of flat and washed out in mid-day light, as is the case with most places.

The sand dunes are great early and late in the day to photograph the shadows on them. And there's a lot of good sunset/sunrise photo ops. Mid-day you'd be looking more at close ups instead of the big landscape views.

Closer to Vegas (and therefore easier to possibly catch a sunrise or sunset) are Red Rock Canyon, Valley of Fire, Mt. Charleston and Lake Mead. In fact, it might make sense to combine Mt. Charleston with one of those - get up early for sunrise at Valley of Fire then head to Mt. Charleston when it starts to heat up. It will be much cooler up there and a totally different landscape than the desert.

If you got up at Oh Dark Thirty - you could make it to Death
Valley before the sun comes up and before it gets really hot. :)

Take your pics and be back in Vegas early afternoon and hit the pool for a nap, etc.

BTW - it's only about a 2 hour drive.

Valley of Fire is great.

Just FYI: there's a full moon in mid-May so that can make for some great photo ops. Also, sunrise is about 5:40 am, sunset around 7:45 pm.

Midday isn't a good time to be in Death Valley for either touring or photography. The early afternoon the light is awful. I'm w/ WhereAreWe - try for an overnight to get FABULOUS pix, or go to one of the parks around Las Vegas instead.

Head west out Charleston to go to Red Rocks. There are great photo ops out there a lot closer to LV. Also check out Valley of Fire, Lake Meade and Hoover Dam.
If Tioga Pas is open, you could go through DV on the way to Yosemite.

janisj - what is 'WhereAreWe'? IOW, just wing it

thank LL i will check out all of your suggestions and probably be back with more questions.

>>janisj - what is 'WhereAreWe'?<<

The screen name of the Fodorite posting directly above me.

I was agreeing w/ WhereAreWe that an overnight stay is MUCH better and the best light/photo ops are morning and evening.

I highly recommend Valley of Fire, the rock formations are amazing. My husband and I are also amateur photographers; we've been there twice, and found it a fascinating place with lots of opportunities for great photography. It's only about an hour's drive from Las Vegas.

The Ethel M Chocolate Factory in Henderson (a suburb of Las Vegas) has a really nice botanical cactus garden on its grounds, free and open to the public. They have over 300 varieties of cacti, and we enjoyed taking photographs of those - we spent a lot longer there than we'd intended, it was so interesting! The factory tour is kind of interesting, too, and you get a free sample at the end (the chocolate is really good!).

Both Valley of Fire and Red Rock Canyon have wonderful opportunities for photos. A nice day trip is to go north on 15 to the VoF exit (it is marked) then go through VoF. Do check out the petroglyphs at atlatl rock and along the trail to Mouse's tank. Then, go through the rest of the park and drive down along Lake Meade and around to Hoover Dam.

Be sure to pick up food and drinks for lunch before you get out of Vegas as there is none in either Red Rock or VoF.

Love both Red Rock Canyon (only 20 minutes from the strip) and the Valley of Fire - 40 miles up 15 and then 10 or so miles to the very interesting rock formations.

I would love to camp overnight at the Valley of Fire.