Route from Arlington, Texas to Vegas and Back

[Mr_Special_kay]

Myself and 2 friend are planning a roadtrip from Arlington, Texas to Las Vegas, in the ideal scenario we wish for the trip to last for about 6 days altogether including stopover of 2 days in Vegas. We would also like to touch on a couple of National Parks on the way back including the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam. Is there a preferred route for this and how long should we be expecting the total journey time from texas to vegas to be so we can plan stopovers(It would also be useful if anyone knew of any good stopovers). Thanks for the insight.

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

I'm sorry to say, I think you are underestimating how long of a trip you've got in front of you. Going the most direct route (US-287 to Amarillo and then I-40, and US-93 across Hoover Dam), you're looking at 1200 miles each way. That 2 pretty full days where you'd be on the road for 10-11 hours each day. Albuquerque would be roughly the halfway point with plenty of lodging options.

Certainly, you can spend 2 days driving to Vegas, 2 days there, and 2 days, back, but you really haven't given yourself any time for a detour to Grand Canyon or any other national park along the way. Its about an hour drive from I-40 to the South Rim, but you also need extra time to pay admission, park, and look around. That little detour ends up taking a half day, even if you just spend a couple hours at the national park.

It looks to me like you need to find more time, leave out the Grand Canyon, or plan to spend less time in Vegas.