Salt Lake City to Las Vegas

[Daryllc90]

Hi guys

We are trying to plan our honeymoon and we have pretty much sorted it all apart from this one section. Salt Lake City to Las Vegas via national parks. We are very flexible and would appreciate everyone’s opinions and ideas for us. The plan is as follows;

Day 1. After spending a few days in Yellowstone then one night in SLC, we will depart SLC early in the morning to head to canyonlands/Arches NP. Tour one of the parks and see sunset and then head to stay overnight in Moab.

Day 2. Depart Moab early hours to see monument valley. Drive through monument valley to then head to Zion Park. Stay over night near Zion or in Zion. (Grand Canyon is also an option instead of Zion)

Day 3. Explore the park we stay in, then head to the opposite one. If we stay in Zion day 2, we will head to Grand Canyon for staying over night 3 or vice versa.

Day 4. Explore park then head to Vegas.

Day 2 and 3 are the ones we can’t decide on to be honest. Basically from Moab to Las Vegas is the issue.

Any ideas and opinions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance - Daryll

[Southwest Dave]

Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !

This part of your trip is on a real tight timeline so I hope the rest of it is more relaxed, especially being a Honeymoon. :-) You don't say what time of year this is happening, but as you visiting Yellowstone I will presume it's between late May and early October in which case the North rim of the Grand canyon is an option (Closed in the winter to traffic) and your best bet given the time. So you would head to the North rim before Zion and then to Vegas.

Is SLC a place you want to visit or just a stopover ? Why I ask is that you could drive south through the Tetons to Jackson and take US191 past Flaming Gorge Res to Vernal for an overnight stay. Admittedly it's slightly longer, but it would be a lot more enjoyable and scenic than the Interstate. (WY530 is also a nice drive on the other side of Flaming Gorge)

[Daryllc90]

Thanks for your reply.

Rest of the honeymoon is definitely more relaxed haha! Yeah we are going on May 16th.

So you would suggest doing a big drive from Moab straight to north rim GC to stay over night? The driving doesn’t bother us and it’ll be relaxed driving. Would you definitely recommend Zion as a must see?

SLC is purely a stop over. Our plan was to drive up through Idaho into West Yellowstone then drive back down through Grand Teton to SLC. I haven’t heard of vernal but will look it up and see if it could work. More just thinking of the drive to Moab to do the canyonlands to try make it as easy as possible.

[glc]

Moab to the north rim via Monument Valley is 375 miles, almost all on 2 lane roads. That's a full day.

[Southwest Dave]

Yeah we are going on May 16th.

By the time you arrive to the North rim you should be OK as it's usually open mid-May. Keep an eye on the official NPS site for Yellowstone information as Spring comes late there and not all of the park may not be accessible until late May early June depending on winter weather. It's a great time to visit just make sure you pack layered clothing for warmth.

So you would suggest doing a big drive from Moab straight to north rim GC to stay over night?

Yes I would and unless you forget Zion it's a case of having to really. There is a decent lodge and cabins at Jacob Lake if you were not planning to stay in the park lodgings, which is the best place to be for sight seeing, but also the most expensive.

Would you definitely recommend Zion as a must see?

I wouldn't want to miss it. Beautiful park with nice walks along the Virgin river between the towering red rocks.

I haven’t heard of vernal but will look it up and see if it could work.

Vernal to Moab is similar in travel time as starting out from SLC although getting to Vernal will take longer than travelling to SLC, but probably not more than an hour if you are headed through Jackson for the Tetons anyway. It's just an option of a nicer drive in my opinion but either route will work.

[Scruffygirl]

Definitely try to save some time for Zion. It’s stunningly beautiful and won’t disappoint. Just driving through is breathtaking but if you can spend a day there on some of the walks then do try to do so.