A Day Trip Close to Las Vegas
When we first started planning this trip, we started looking at day trips that we could make from Las Vegas. Ten years ago we had done a similar trip (a whole different story) so we were looking to check out things we hadn't seen. We had gone to Hoover Dam on that previous trip but gave some thought to returning since they had added the new bridge further down the river since we had been there. We had also given thought to checking out the new sky bridge over the Grand Canyon but after reading some reviews about the cost and set up of the sky bridge and the distance between there and St. George, UT (where we wanted to end Day 3), we decided to look a little bit more. At the last minute, we saw a brochure for Red Rock Canyon and thought....what the heck....it was close....looked nice from the pictures and worked into our schedule.
Sometimes the best decisions are spur of the moment. That certainly was the case in this instance!
Red Rock Canyon
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| Visitor's Center - Red Rock Canyon |
This is a very easy drive and is only about a 20 - 30 minute drive outside of the city. You would never guess that this beautiful scenery was so close to the big city! Knowing that we were going to be visiting several National Parks during our vacation, we purchased a National Park Annual Pass. It has a cost of $85.00 and is good for one year. This is a big money saver if you are going to be visiting several parks and it is for a great cause. Since Red Rock Canyon is not a National Park but rather a National Conservation Area, we were unsure whether or not the pass would be accepted. We were pleasantly surprised that it was accepted. The cost is minimal here though at $7.00/vehicle and well worth the money to visit.
Visitor's Center
We started our visit at the Visitor's Center. It was a beautiful, very modern building with restrooms, a gift shop and lots of educational information about the Red Rock Canyon area. Both my husband and I noted that this facility was better than many of the National Parks themselves. It was very well maintained.
In the back of the Visitor's Center was a window which allowed for a panoramic view of the Red Rocks....just beautiful!
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| Panoramic View of the Red Rocks at the Visitor's Center |
From the inside of the visitor's center, exit through the back door and you will be on a very easy cement pathway that will take you to several observation decks and around by the resident tortoises. It wasn't so hot the day we were there so we actually got to see the tortoises walking around!
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| Tortoise at Red Rock Canyon |
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| View from Observation Deck - Red Rock Canyon |
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| Red Rock Canyon Observation Deck |
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| Red Rock Canyon Visitor Center Walkway |
Scenic Drive
Once you have checked out the visitor's center and gotten oriented to the area, the next thing to do is start out on the scenic drive of the park. There is a one way 13 mile scenic drive. You cannot get lost on this trip! There are also several areas where there are pullouts that offer great photo opportunities. The park was so empty the day we were there, we were even able to make our own stops in the middle of the roadway for extra photo ops! 
Red Rock Canyon was really a beautiful place with a different look around every bend.
This is definitely a great day trip from Las Vegas. It's actually only about a half day trip so you can get back into town in plenty of time to catch a show or take in the night life in the city. The beauty is astounding! You will not be sorry that you took a few hours out to take a look around this area.
The beautiful thing about this park is that you can go around the entire drive and if you miss something you can go back around again. Your entrance fee is also good for several days so if you are thinking that you may want to head back out and do some hiking or have a picnic you can reenter the park at no additional cost.
Next Stop St. George, UT
After spending about 3 hours at Red Rock Canyon (with travel time) we were headed on our way to our next stop....St. George, UT. It was about a 3 hour drive with traffic. This was where we had decided to stay for the next 3 nights so we could "hub" closer to the National Parks that we wanted to see in Arizona, Utah and Nevada. 
For our stay, we had chosen the Hampton Inn St. George. We had stayed at this hotel when we did our trip 10 years ago and the friendly staff there had made an impression on us. Their hospitality did not disappoint this time either! Since we were planning full day trips from this location, amenities really didn't matter. We knew what to expect from the Hampton Inn so found that this was a good way to save on hotel costs for the 3 days we were in this area. Our room was clean and sufficient for the 2 of us. Nothing over the top or really special but that wasn't really what we were looking for with our stay here. The hotel is conveniently located near many retail shops and restaurants so there is a dining option for any budget.
Time to rest up for our next day trip.....the North Rim of the Grand Canyon!
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