Valley of Fire State Park:
If you take the northern route you will go north on Route 15 to the Valley of Fire
State Park near the shores of Lake Mead, a place well named for its  rocks
that glow red and a sun that can burn like fire.  Snappy dry Mojave Desert air
keeps it interesting but still Nevada’s oldest park has few visitors
Most travelers speed through on their way to Utah's  Zion and Bryce canyons
to the north.
Grand Canyon, South Rim sunset
Zion Canyon
To keep congestion down, Park Service shuttles take visitors to view the most
scenic sections of Zion’s twisted stone and sculpted spires. Zion’s 1920s era Zion-
Mount Carmel tunnel leads up and out to the road for Brice or to the Grand Canyon.
Freedonia marks Route 89 heading north.   

You'll find all the elbow room you could ever want after you pass through a few little
towns and take a die-straight road towards the North Rim of the Grand canyon as it
cuts through the desert sage and creosote bush of the Kaibab plateau. Forty miles
of blacktop skirts the Vermilion Cliffs on the left, a plain to the canyon on the right,  
and open road to the North Rim.  
North Rim, Grand Canyon:
The North rim of the Grand Canyon offers more elbow room than the South Rim with
fewer crowds.  Lodging can be found at the Grand Canyon Lodge for $112-179 USD
depending on proximity to the rim. Good food is offered at the lodge dining room.
Tent and RV camping is available at the North Rim Campgrounds near the rim and at
De Motte Campgrounds 16 miles north, and at Jacob Lake Campgrounds,  45 miles
north.
Primitive rim camping is offered at Tuweep or Toroweep were 16 sites offer first come
first served (no reservations) camping.

Marble Canyon
You leave the Grand Canyon and continue east beside the Vermilion Cliffs and enter
Marble Canyon. Here it is worth a stop to see Lees Ferry and watch a trip outfitter
provision their huge inflatable rafts for a 200 mile trip on the Colorado River.

Antelope Slot Canyon
Another stop on a tour around the Colorado's canyons  should be slot canyons of
Page. Take  Antelope Pass at 6,533  feet elevation  for the great views of the valley of
the Colorado River and then enjoy a long downhill glide to Page where you might be
thinking mirage when you see the enigmatic towers of the Navajo Power Plant on
Route 98. They loom over Antelope Canyon.
The slot canyons are dry most of the year but when Antelope Creek conveys huge
amounts of flood water through the rocks during storms, the waters carve unusual rock
formations on the below-ground canyon.
South Rim Views
North Rim View
Lees Ferry
Zion SP Utah
Las Vegas
Antelope Slot
Canyon

Grand Canyon, South Rim
From Page head back south along the Echo Cliffs to the Little Colorado River
and then turn at Cameron to the plateau on Route 64 to the 7,400-foot high
south rim of the Grand Canyon.
So many viewpoints, so little time;  Mather point first thing in the morning has
great sunrise views. The west Rim Trail runs for eight miles along the canyon’s
edge and leads to great viewpoints, much of it  paved and  wheel chair
accessible.

South again on 89 takes you through the ancient stone pueblos of The Wupatki
National Monument, the 11th century homes of the Anasazi and Sinagua
cultures. The road passes through the black volcano fields of Sunset Crater
where eruptions in the 11th Century threw tons of volcanic stone that blanketed
the area driving out the ancient farmers who left their stone buildings.
The Grand Canyon of Arizona is
near enough to Las Vegas for that city
to offer a welcome base for traveling
in the wilderness of the high deserts.
After a week or two of sunsets at the
Grand Canyon or the solitude of the
forests of Ponderosa Pine on the
Kaibab Plateau, a return to exciting
Las vegas might be in order.

This loop tour around the Colorado
River will offer both the red rock
canyons and the spires of glitzy Las
Vegas
Route 66:
The frontier town of Williams at 6,700 feet along the old Route 66
provides some nostalgia which includes lunch in a 1950s diner.
The Grand Canyon Railway runs steam and Diesel trains twice
daily out of Williams to the Grand Canyon.

Hoover Dam:
The road to Las Vegas runs right over the top of 762-foot high
Hoover Dam. To the right, Lake Mead and two years worth of
Colorado River water bordered by 550 miles of shoreline, below, a
concrete base 660 feet thick that took 4.5 million Cubic Yards of
concrete to build, and to the left, Colorado River water headed for
the agricultural fields of Arizona and California.
Steam train Rides
in Williams Arizona
Stone ruins near
the volcano of
Sunset Crater
Bridge over the top of
the Hoover Dam
Auto Rental Las Vegas for the Grand Canyon Circle Driving Tour
Grand Canyon Sunset, North Rim
Canyon Photo Tips: Brice, Zion, and the Grand Canyon offer great photo opportunities at
low light but they present unusual challenges as well.
Grand Canyon Arizona can include a flight into
Las Vegas  NV( LAS) or Phoenix  AZ  (PHX) These
airports ive you good rental cars and access to
the canyons of the Colorado River
Air Travel to Las Vegas
can be a good start of  A
Grand Canyon Trip.
Las Vegas Mc Carran
Airport (LAS) gives you
many choices for rental
cars and ground
transportation. Las Vegas
with its many hotels is a
good base for  tours of
both the North Rim and
South Rim of the Grand
Canyon, for Zion and
Brice Canyons,  and for
the slot Canyons of Page,
Arizona .
Canyon Tour
Maps show roads leading  north and
south out of Las Vegas to places with
tons of elbow room. A loop around the
Colorado River will put you within nearly
a dozen spectacular red rock canyons
including both the north and south rim of
the Grand Canyon.
Auto Rental from Las Vegas for the Grand
Canyon Circle Driving Tour can follow roads
leading north or south out of Las Vegas for a
driving loop around the Colorado River to Zion
NP and the North and South Rims of the Grand
Canyon
Custom Search
Custom Search