I have been planning our Las Vegas trip for months now and keep looking for interesting things to do while there. I have been reading your posts about Zion and sounds like a place I would LOVE.

We will be in LV between June 4 and June 12.
I have to drag my daugther, boyfriend and my husband kicking and screaming away from LV ( they will love Zion once we get there!)

I would like to plan on leaving LV at around 7:00 a.m. (ha ha, after being out to all hours, but guess we can plan an early evening the night before.) We can stay there as late as we want but I don't want to stay overnight. (used a week of our timeshare for this week.)

Can we do Zion in one day and just take the short hikes and still be able to see some of the driving sights. It sounds like it will be well worth it. I have never seen any mountains except for the smokies and Virginia. (Vermont and New Hampshire when I was a kid.)

We live in FL where it is flat as a pancake, so I can't wait to see this place.
We are taking our grandson's to see the grand canyon and Sedona the week before, and then they will be going home.

28 days to go!!!

We spent one full day in Zion but wish we had had more time; we were there in September and the crowds were manageable. The drive from Las Vegas takes between 2.5 and 3 hours. Zion uses a shuttle system for the main portion of the park. We had no problems boarding the shuttle (they depart every 15 minutes or so). We took the shuttle to the last stop and hiked the Riverside trail. We also did two more hikes: to the weeping wall and to some pools (near the lodge). We drove from the visitors center area to the end of the park (the route to Bryce Canyon NP)and admired the scenery but did not do any hikes in that area of the park.

Our brief visit just made us want to return and spend more time; the scenery was spectacular, the hikes were manageable (we are over 50 so if we could do them, almost any abled-body person could). We were quite tuckered out by the end of the day.

type "Vegas side trips" into the forum search (above) and you'll get a thread written by someone who recently did the Zion-park-in-a-day thing.

I've done it-its a perfectly managable day trip (unfortunately, the drive to Zion from Vegas is not scenic at all). It was of course much less satisfying than staying longer-there is something about seeing sunrises, sunsets, being there when the day trippers go home, etc, that makes it really special, but if you've never been I'd say go for it. It will be crowded during June-try to go on a weekday.

Be sure to drive up through the Zion Tunnel and back. There are some neat spots you can just pull over above the tunnel and just climb around on the rocks-I'll bet your grandkids would like that.

I guess scenic is in the eye of the beholder...either that or Christy1 drove there with her eyes shut. I like the drive from Las Vegas to Zion. The first part is though the desert but there are mountains off in the distance. You will then drive though the Virgin River Gorge. Near St. George you will see mountains and the beginning of red rock scenery.

Picture of Virgin River Gorge:

http://www.utahtea.lithium.com/Pictu...rge%20I-15.JPG

Utahtea

Thanks for the information. I will try to do all driving to and from the park during daylight hours so I won't miss anything. Well maybe just the last hour and half can be in the dark)

I find it so hard to imagine what it looks like there. I know the pictures don't do it justice. I am in love with the smoky mountains and have a hard time thinking something can compete.

Unfortunately my grandkids won't get to see Zion, but they will get to see the grand canyon. All of us will be seeing it for the first time.

Can't wait, can't wait!

Hmmm, I'm a good driver, but not so good as to be able to drive with my eyes shut the 5 or 6 times I've done that drive. Maybe dixiegirl will love it, the landscape being so much different than what she's used to. Different strokes, you know.

dixiegirl,
Good for you for dragging your family out of LV for a day. Zion is so awesome - breathtaking, actually. You will all be so glad you went, even if only for a day. The drive from LV to Zion starts out pretty flat, with mtns in the distance but it is really scenic once you get into the Virgin River Canyon. You will love it! Zion is a jewel and you will be back! Guaranteed!

I've been back to the smokies 6 times since first going and fall in love again everytime we go.

We went to Las Vegas last year for the first time and had a blast. We were only there for 4 days and I didn't have the heart to drag them out that time, but they're gettin drug (not drugs) this time!