Best 5 Day Hike near Las Vegas Airport in Late November

[michael_becker1]

Hi All,

I'm looking to do an overnight backpacking trip, probably for 5 nights, anywhere that's within a decent driving

distance from Las Vegas airport. It's my first time out west, and I'd like to do a trip that's equal part

photography, and equal part hike.

I was thinking Grand Canyon seems logical since there seems to be a plethora of long hike options, or Arches or

Death Valley though these don't seem to have the same sorts of long hikes.

Any good hike suggestions?

[a._j._jacobs]

Red Rock Canyon is good. It's about 25 miles from the airport, but extremely easy to get to. It's beautiful, and now that the

weather is cooling down out here it is perfect hiking weather. There are camp grounds, and the visitor center has a map

with all of the hiking trails on them, ranging from beginner to very hard. The area is beautiful for photography. Here's a link

to it:

 

www.redrockcanyonlv.org

[steven_f1]

I would recommend doing a two day hike through the Zion Narrows. It's a 20 mile hike down stream on the Virgin

River were at times the canon is 20 feet wide with towering clifts on each side. Unfortunately you are only limited to

an overnight hike or a day hike in the lower 5 miles of the Narrows (no permit required for a day hike). Zion is

probably a little further away then you were thinking but in terms of driving time it is about the same as driving to the

North rim of the Grand canyon. You would have to do this hike no later than mid October. After that it would be too

cold and the river flow would start to increase due to winter rains. At 120CFS or hike of flow the park service stops

issuing permits for the hike. Currently it is at about 40CFS which is as low as it gets. After that you could go to the

North rim of the Grand Canyon, Red Rock Canyon or continue exploring Zion.

[alex_smith13]

A little longer drive but nice packing would be the maze district of canyonlands.

[jeff_emanuel1]

+1 for canyonlands. Also consider needles district.

[bob_flood1]

Late November - the north rim of the Grand Canyon will be closed - you'll have to go to the south rim for the canyon. It's a classic, and a place where you could spend all five days.

 

Red Rock - close to vegas and a good example of western red rock geology, but nowhere near a five day outing. You'd want to combine this with something else.

 

Zion - it's a 3 hour 10 minute drive from my house on the northwest side of Las Vegas to Zion Canyon, a little less to the Kolob Canyon entrance. A hike in the Narrows will be cold, mostly walking in water. If you are up for it, a hike into the Narrows and a climb from there into the high country would be a good route. You could combine it with a day hike to Angel's Landing in the canyon - nothing else like it for a photo vantage point. I suggest getting a phone number from the NPS website and calling to talk to a ranger about hiking the Narrows and high country at that time of year.

 

Death Valley - certainly cool enough, and would be good hiking but not necessarily the photo ops you want. Try Googling for personal web site with photos to see if it look like it's for you.

 

A bit farther from Vegas you'll find Canyonlands, Escalante, Arches, etc. Be careful in slot canyons - two folks were drowned this week in a flash flood in an Escalante slot. I can't tell you much about these - a Google search should scare up a lot of info, though.

[greg s]

+2 for canyonlands, south end of park for hiking. The terrain is 'relatvely' even on many of the trails, there are a LOT of places to explore, and it is magnificently beautiful. Keep close tabs on the forecast, of course.

[phil_armitage1]

A classic trip of about that length would be the Paria Canyon, which is comparable to the Zion Narrows but with less water, at least in

Spring / early Summer (a consideration, since the water in the Narrows is cold enough to need a wetsuit in November). It's a beautiful trip

for both hiking and photography. Don't know first hand what the conditions are like in late November though...