Hello,

We are doing a trip the first week of June. Myself and 16 year old son.

We are coming from the South Rim of CG, stopping at the Hoover Dam then to VOF and staying in Overton that night before heading to Vegas the next morning.

Hoping to be at VOF by 3-4 pm. I'm wondering if this will give us enough time to see the Visitor Center, drive through the park and do a couple hikes (mainly interested in the Petroglyph hike, but would like the Fire Wave if not to late),

What time will the park close or does it stay open and just the visitor center close in the evening? Will it be too hot to hike around 5ish? We aren't fast pace hikers.

Thoughts or advice would be great

Thanks

Nobody can predict the weather but June will definitely be hot, too hot in my opinion for any hiking. The Visitor's Center closes at 4:30. It's a beautiful park but it will be a long drive and you don't have enough time to really do anything. We always camp when we visit the park. One time we were on a road trip and just used the park for an overnight stop. It was 118 degrees and dropped down to 99 overnight. That was in August. Spring and Fall are really the best times to visit.

Average high in June is 101, and you'll be getting there at the hottest part of the day. VC is open 8:30 am to 4:30 pm but the park itself is open sunrise to sunset (about 5:30 am to 8 pm in early June).

I'd suggest going to the VC first, then do a drive through and evaluate whether you want to hike. If it were me, I would do the hiking the next morning on your way to Vegas when it's cooler.

Petroglyph Canyon should have some shade but the trail is somewhat sandy, so that will take more effort. Fire Wave has virtually no shade - I would not want to do that in full sun when it's 100.

There are a couple of places for viewing petroglyphs in the park. I'm not sure what they call "petroglyph trail" but if it is the path to Mouse's tank, there are lots on the left side as you walk in and is sandy, so wear sneakers or the like to protect your feet from the hot sand. There is also a place called atl-atl rock which is a very short walk from the parking area then a hike up a staircase along the rock face to the carvings. When you get back to the parking area, look high on the rock face to the right of the atl-atl area for more petroglyphs.

I would ONLY go to VoF if it was in the early AM. 3:00 to 6:00 PM is the very hottest part of the day. Most likely any time after 11:00 will be too hot to hike.

Thanks everyone for the great feedback.

I’m thinking we may just do the hiking the next morning and just drive the park that evening. I didn’t think about it being hotter late in the afternoon. I figured once the sun started setting it would cool down enough that we could do a short hike (mouse tank) as long as the sun wasn’t blazing down on us. We are from the East Coast and really have no idea of dry/extreme heat, but it sounds really wicked!

I was worried with checking into Mandalay Bay hotel looking like death from hiking that morning in the heat and sand, hopefully they are use to other people doing that lol

>>I figured once the sun started setting it would cool down enough that we could do a short hike