Mt Carmel Junction, UT to Las Vegas, NV

[Harry Kline]

211 miles and 6-7 hours

Today you will drive back to Las Vegas with a side trip to Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada.



Unfortunately for now, you will need to scroll to see this map or you can just click on the link below:

Link to RTA Custom Map:

Your drive starts back along highway 9 through that marvelous tunnel into Zion National Park, but today you won't be stopping there. Instead, continue on through the park into Springdale and the on to Hurricane where you will shortly join up with I-15 through St George.

Just south of St George, I-15 enters the northwest corner of Arizona and goes through the very scenic Virgin River Canyon for several miles. If you care to stop for pictures, pull off at the campground near the town of Littlefield. Then continue on into Nevada.

The next stop is at Valley of Fire State Park, reached by leaving I-15 at Exit 93. This park has rocks that almost appear to be on fire and is also a treasure trove of petroglyphs and odd shaped boulders and cliffs. Be sure to take the Mouse's Tank Road to the north from the Visitor Center to see all the colorful formations and to hike on some of the trails. The road dead ends up at the White Domes, so you'll be driving back down, as well.

One unnamed hill on the right as you drive west from the visitor center has several faces in profile all looking skyward, so this visitor took the liberty of naming it "Star Gazer Hill". There are at least ten faces visible from the road. See if you can find it as you drive toward Atlatl Rock and the Bee Hives.

Star Gazer Hill

Continuing along Valley of Fire Highway will bring you back to I-15 at the town of Crystal. From there it is a short drive to your destination in Las Vegas.

[DonnaR57]

It is a real shame that Arizona removed the rest area that used to be located within the Virgin River Gorge on I-15. It was a great place to pull over and take some beautiful photos of the Gorge. Unfortunately, Arizona found it difficult to maintain the rest area because it was not easily accessible by their crews, and they could not get Utah or Nevada to assist in the maintenance.


Donna

[Harry Kline]

It is a real shame that Arizona removed the rest area that used to be located within the Virgin River Gorge on I-15. It was a great place to pull over and take some beautiful photos of the Gorge. Unfortunately, Arizona found it difficult to maintain the rest area because it was not easily accessible by their crews, and they could not get Utah or Nevada to assist in the maintenance.


Donna

Thanks, Donna, I KNEW there used to be a rest area in the canyon. We stopped there the first time we ever went through it, and I was shocked that there wasn't any the last few times. My memory wasn't playing tricks on me after all. The campground is okay, but I think the rest area had better views.

Harry