Grand Circle Road Trip: Seven Parks in One Loop From Las Vegas

The Grand Circle is the big version of a Southwest road trip: one loop of about 1,250 miles from Las Vegas through seven National Parks in three states. You get Utah's five parks, then the cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde in Colorado, then the Grand Canyon in Arizona, and you end where you started, which means no one-way rental fee.

This post is about the driving: the loop leg by leg, the miles and hours, where to sleep, and when the roads cooperate. Each park gets a short plan as the loop reaches it, and the full days are in my guides.

Grand Circle Road Trip at a Glance

• Parks: Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Arches, Canyonlands, Mesa Verde, and Grand Canyon.
• Start and finish: Las Vegas, as a loop.
• Driving: about 1,250 miles between parks, plus the miles inside them.
• Time behind the wheel: about 22 to 24 hours, spread over the trip.
• How many days: 14 is the honest minimum; 16 to 18 is better.
• Best seasons: late April to early June and mid-September through October.
• Pass: the $80 America the Beautiful annual pass covers all seven parks for U.S. residents.

Orientation sketch, not to scale. Check the official park maps for detail. Routes © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL); state lines from the U.S. Census Bureau.

How Many Days Do You Need?

Plan on 14 days, and take 16 to 18 if you can. Here's the math. The loop has seven driving legs, and three of them (Capitol Reef to Moab, Moab to Mesa Verde, and Mesa Verde to the Grand Canyon) run 2.5 to 5 hours. Two of those eat most of a day. Add a full day for each of the seven parks, a second day for Zion, the Moab parks, and the Grand Canyon, and an arrival day, and you're at 14 with no slack at all.

Ten days is possible if you treat Capitol Reef and Canyonlands as drive-through stops and give Mesa Verde a single afternoon, but you'll spend a lot of the trip in the car. With a week or less, don't try the circle. Drive the Utah half instead (my Utah Mighty 5 road trip post covers that version) or pair Zion and Bryce with the Grand Canyon.

Which Direction to Drive It

I'd drive it counterclockwise as laid out here: Las Vegas to Zion first, around through Utah and Colorado, and back to Las Vegas from the Grand Canyon. That puts the Utah parks, which are closest together, at the start while you're fresh, and it ends with the Grand Canyon, the one park on the loop that needs no complicated driving to get home from.

Clockwise works just as well, and it's the better choice if you want Mesa Verde's cliff dwelling tours early or late in their season, since you'll reach Colorado sooner. Las Vegas has the most flights and usually the cheapest rental cars. Phoenix is a fine alternative start; join the loop at the Grand Canyon, about 231 miles north.

The Route, Leg By Leg

Las Vegas to Zion: About 165 Miles, 2.5 to 3 Hours

Interstate 15 north through the Virgin River Gorge, then Utah 9 east through Hurricane to Springdale at the South Entrance. You lose an hour when you cross into Utah, which runs on Mountain time. Zion Canyon is shuttle-only for most of the year, and that changes how you plan the day. My Zion National Park guide sorts out the shuttle, the permit hikes, and the hikes that need no permit.

A short plan for Zion: Leave the car in Springdale, walk in at the pedestrian entrance, and take the seasonal shuttle to the end of the line at the Temple of Sinawava. Follow the paved Riverside Walk to the Narrows, your turnaround, and eat a packed lunch by the river, because the only restaurants are at Zion Lodge. Get off at Canyon Junction on the way down for the Pa'rus Trail. My Zion National Park guide has the full days.

Grand Canyon National Park. Early light on the buttes and temples below Hopi Point on Hermit Road (NPS photograph). Photo: National Park Service (Grand Canyon National Park), Wikimedia Commons. Public domain (U.S. Government work).

Zion to Bryce Canyon: About 85 Miles, 1.5 to 2 Hours

Utah 9 climbs out of the canyon to the Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel, then U.S. 89 north and Utah 12 east through Red Canyon to Utah 63. If you're in an RV or towing, note the 2026 rule: since June 7, 2026, vehicles over the park's size limits can't use the road between Canyon Junction and the East Entrance at all, so oversize rigs go around by Cedar City and Utah 20 instead. Bryce sits at 8,000 to 9,000 feet, and its one rim road is a dead end. My Bryce Canyon National Park guide covers which viewpoints and trails to fit into your time.

A short plan for Bryce Canyon: Start at the visitor center just past the entrance stations, then take the free shuttle in season or drive the rest of the year. Work north through the amphitheater: Bryce Point, Sunset Point and Thor's Hammer, then the paved rim path to Sunrise Point. That's your turnaround, with lunch from the General Store nearby, usually closed January through March. My Bryce Canyon National Park guide has the full days.

Checkerboard Mesa from a viewpoint along the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway near the East Entrance, in a July 2010 National Park Service photograph by Caitlin Ceci. Photo: Caitlin Ceci, National Park Service. Public domain.

Bryce Canyon to Capitol Reef: About 120 Miles, 2.5 to 3 Hours

Scenic Byway 12 through Escalante and Boulder, over the Hogback and Boulder Mountain, and down to Torrey. Buy gas in Escalante or Boulder and download offline maps before you leave Bryce; cell service disappears for long stretches. Capitol Reef's park warns not to trust GPS, which sometimes sends drivers onto the rough South Draw Road. Stay on Utah 12 and Utah 24. Highway 24 runs right through the park along the Fremont River, and my Capitol Reef National Park guide shows how to turn that drive-through into a real day.

A short plan for Capitol Reef: Stay on Utah 24 to the visitor center, then walk the petroglyph boardwalks a few minutes east. Eat the lunch you bought in Torrey at the picnic area in Fruita, with a Gifford House pie in season, and head south on the Scenic Drive. Walk into Grand Wash if the sky's clear, and turn back where the pavement ends. My Capitol Reef National Park guide has the full days.

Capitol Reef to Moab: About 145 Miles, 2.5 Hours

Utah 24 east to Hanksville (the gas stop), north to Interstate 70, east to Crescent Junction, and U.S. 191 south to Moab. Moab is the easy part of the loop: one bed for two parks. Arches is 5 miles north of town, and Arches dropped its timed-entry reservations for 2026, though the Fiery Furnace and Devils Garden Campground still need their own. Canyonlands' Island in the Sky district is about 40 minutes away. My Arches National Park guide and Canyonlands National Park guide split those days up for you.

A short plan for Arches: Pack lunch and water in Moab, then enter from U.S. 191 and pass everything on the way to the Delicate Arch viewpoints, the far point of this plan. Work back to the Windows Section for Double Arch, stop for lunch at the Balanced Rock picnic area, and finish with Park Avenue on the way out. My Arches National Park guide has the full days.

A short plan for Canyonlands: Use the Island in the Sky entrance and bring lunch, because nothing's sold on the mesa. Stop at Mesa Arch, then drive to Grand View Point, where the road ends and you turn around (check at the visitor center that it's open). Eat at the White Rim Overlook picnic area, then take the short spur to Green River Overlook. My Canyonlands National Park guide has the full days.

Bryce Canyon National Park. Natural Bridge, an arch of red rock on the Southern Scenic Drive, framing the forest below, October 2016. Photo: Bernard Spragg, Wikimedia Commons (from Flickr). CC0 (public-domain dedication).

Moab to Mesa Verde: About 145 Miles, 2.5 to 3 Hours

This is where the circle leaves the usual Utah route. Take U.S. 191 south through Monticello, then U.S. 491 southeast across the state line to Cortez, Colorado, and U.S. 160 east to the park entrance between Cortez and Mancos. Monticello and Cortez are your gas and grocery stops. The Needles District of Canyonlands is right off U.S. 191 on this leg, about 75 miles from Moab, if you'd rather see it on the way out than make a separate trip.

Mesa Verde's road is the surprise. From the entrance it's about 21 miles and 45 minutes of winding mesa-top driving to the museum, and up to an hour and a half to the farthest cliff dwellings. Trailers and towed vehicles can't go beyond Morefield Campground. Tours inside the cliff dwellings run only from early May to late October (May 4 to October 21 in 2026), and tickets go on sale on Recreation.gov 14 days ahead. My Mesa Verde National Park guide explains which tours and loops fit into one or two days.

A short plan for Mesa Verde: Take the park exit off U.S. 160 and stop at the Visitor and Research Center before the 21-mile drive to Chapin Mesa. Go to Cliff Palace, on a tour in season or from the overlook, then drive the Mesa Top Loop to Sun Temple. Finish at the Spruce Tree Terrace Cafe by the museum, open mainly in season, and turn back there. My Mesa Verde National Park guide has the full days.

Arches National Park. Delicate Arch in winter, with snow on the distant country and the La Sal Mountains on the horizon. Photo: Neal Herbert, National Park Service. Public domain.

Mesa Verde to the Grand Canyon South Rim: About 290 Miles, 5 to 5.5 Hours

The longest leg of the loop, and the emptiest. Head west on U.S. 160 past Four Corners and across the Navajo Nation through Kayenta and Tuba City, then U.S. 89 south to Cameron and Arizona 64 west to the Desert View entrance. Fill up in Cortez and again in Kayenta or Tuba City; distances between stations are long. If you have an extra hour, U.S. 163 north from Kayenta to Monument Valley (on Navajo land, not a National Park) is a short detour that most people on this loop take.

Watch the clocks on this leg. Arizona stays on standard time all year, but the Navajo Nation observes daylight saving time, so in summer your phone may change its mind more than once. Entering at Desert View means your first look at the canyon comes from the east end of Desert View Drive, about 25 miles from Grand Canyon Village. What to do with your time on the rim is what my Grand Canyon National Park guide lays out.

A short plan for Grand Canyon: Enter at the East Entrance at Desert View and follow Desert View Drive to the Grand Canyon Visitor Center, with lunch in the car, since 2026 water limits cut restaurant hours. Walk from Mather Point to Yavapai Point, then take the Trail of Time to the Village. Kolb Studio is your turnaround, and the free Blue shuttle carries you back. My Grand Canyon National Park guide has the full days.

What changed at the Grand Canyon in 2026: after an August 29 flood broke the South Rim's water line, the park stopped overnight stays in all its lodges from August 31, 2026. As of mid-October 2026, the lodge operator said stays arriving November 20 and later were going ahead, with lodging reopening in phases. Check Grand Canyon National Park alerts before you count on a room in the park. The North Rim, a separate drive of about 4.5 hours around the canyon, reopened in May 2026 after the 2025 Dragon Bravo Fire with no lodging inside the park, and it's scheduled to close for the season on November 30, 2026, or at the first big snowstorm.

Mesa Verde National Park. Cliff Palace, the largest cliff dwelling in North America, fills its sandstone alcove above Cliff Canyon, seen from the path down to it in September 2006 (photograph by Andreas F. Borchert, CC BY-SA 4.0). Photo: Andreas F. Borchert, Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).

Grand Canyon to Las Vegas: About 278 Miles, 4.5 to 5 Hours

Arizona 64 south to Williams, Interstate 40 west to Kingman, then U.S. 93 north across the Colorado River on the bypass bridge below Hoover Dam and into Las Vegas. Williams and Kingman are the gas stops. Arizona and Nevada share a clock most of the year; in summer, Las Vegas is an hour behind the Navajo Nation and Utah.

A Sample 14-Day Driving Schedule

This is the driving skeleton only, so you can see where the miles fall. The park days themselves are in the guides.

Day	Drive	Driving Time	Overnight Town
Day 1	Las Vegas to Springdale, about 165 miles	2.5 to 3 hours	Springdale
Day 2	Zion, driving from Springdale	Local driving	Springdale
Day 3	Zion, driving from Springdale	Local driving	Springdale
Day 4	Zion to Bryce Canyon, about 85 miles	1.5 to 2 hours	Bryce Canyon City
Day 5	Bryce Canyon, then Scenic Byway 12 to Torrey, about 120 miles	2.5 to 3 hours	Torrey
Day 6	Capitol Reef, then on to Moab, about 145 miles	2.5 hours	Moab
Day 7	Arches, driving from Moab	Local driving	Moab
Day 8	Canyonlands, driving from Moab	About 40 minutes each way	Moab
Day 9	Moab to Mesa Verde, by way of the Needles turnoff if you like, about 145 miles	2.5 to 3 hours	Cortez
Day 10	Mesa Verde, driving from Cortez or Morefield	About 45 minutes each way from the entrance to the museum	Cortez or Morefield
Day 11	Mesa Verde to the Grand Canyon South Rim, about 290 miles	5 to 5.5 hours	Tusayan or Grand Canyon Village
Day 12	Grand Canyon, driving from Grand Canyon Village or Tusayan	Local driving	Tusayan or Grand Canyon Village
Day 13	Grand Canyon, driving from Grand Canyon Village or Tusayan	Local driving	Tusayan or Grand Canyon Village
Day 14	Grand Canyon to Las Vegas, about 278 miles	4.5 to 5 hours	Fly home from Las Vegas

Where to Stay Along the Way

• Zion: Springdale, or cheaper beds in Hurricane and Mount Carmel Junction. Zion Lodge is the only room inside the park.
• Bryce Canyon: Bryce Canyon City at the entrance, Tropic, or Panguitch. The Lodge at Bryce Canyon typically closes from November through March.
• Capitol Reef: Torrey. There's no lodging in the park, only Fruita Campground.
• Arches and Canyonlands: Moab, or Monticello if you're adding the Needles.
• Mesa Verde: Cortez, Mancos, or Durango, about 35 miles east. Far View Lodge, the only lodge in the park, runs from spring to fall (April 17 to October 18 in 2026), and Morefield Campground is about 4 miles inside the entrance.
• Grand Canyon: Grand Canyon Village when the lodges are taking guests (El Tovar, Bright Angel, Maswik, and Yavapai), Tusayan just outside the South Entrance, or Williams and Flagstaff for more choice. On the Mesa Verde leg, Kayenta and Tuba City are your overnight options if you split the drive.

Best Time of Year to Drive It

Late April to early June and mid-September through October are the windows when every piece of the circle works at once: Mesa Verde's tours are running, Bryce has thawed, and Zion and Moab aren't yet baking. They're also the busiest, so book rooms in the order you'll reach them.

Summer works, but Zion, Moab, and Capitol Reef regularly hit the high 90s, and July and August bring afternoon thunderstorms and flash floods across the whole region. The high country (Bryce, Mesa Verde, and the Grand Canyon's rim at about 7,000 feet) stays more comfortable.

Winter breaks the circle in places. Mesa Verde's cliff dwelling tours and lodge are closed, Boulder Mountain and Bryce get real snow, and the North Rim closes entirely. The South Rim stays open all year. A winter loop is quiet and beautiful, but give it spare days and check the alerts before every leg.

Road Trip Tips for the Four Corners Region

• Buy the annual pass. Seven entrance fees add up fast, and nonresidents pay a $100 per person surcharge at several of these parks without one. The America the Beautiful pass is $80 for U.S. residents and $250 for nonresidents in 2026.
• Fill up early and often. Escalante, Hanksville, Monticello, Cortez, Kayenta, and Tuba City are the gas towns on the long stretches. Treat half a tank as empty.
• Download maps and confirmations. Cell service drops out on Utah 12, Utah 24, the Navajo Nation, and inside most of the parks.
• Don't trust GPS shortcuts. Capitol Reef and the Grand Canyon both warn about dirt roads that GPS apps suggest. Stay on the numbered highways.
• Respect the Navajo Nation. Tribal parks like Monument Valley charge their own fees and set their own rules, and they aren't covered by a National Park pass.
• Carry water in the car. Summer heat makes a breakdown on an empty highway dangerous.

Official pages: Zion hours · Zion fees · Zion directions.

Plan Your Days Inside Each Park

This post gets you from park to park, with a short plan for each stop. The full days are what my guides are for: each one has nine itineraries for one, two, or three days at easy, moderate, and strenuous effort, each with a backup plan for bad weather or a closure, plus orientation maps, the park's history, and the animals you're likely to see. You get an EPUB and a printable PDF, so the day's plan can ride in the car with you.

• Zion National Park: nine itineraries, 14 animals to look for, 6 maps, and 31 photographs
• Bryce Canyon National Park: nine itineraries, 14 animals to look for, 6 maps, and 31 photographs
• Capitol Reef National Park: nine itineraries, 14 animals to look for, 6 maps, and 32 photographs
• Canyonlands National Park: nine itineraries, 14 animals to look for, 6 maps, and 33 photographs
• Arches National Park: nine itineraries, 14 animals to look for, 7 maps, and 28 photographs
• Grand Canyon National Park: nine itineraries, 14 animals to look for, 5 maps, and 35 photographs
• Mesa Verde National Park: nine itineraries, 14 animals to look for, 4 maps, and 36 photographs

For This Route

The Utah National Parks Collection covers 5 of the 7 parks on this route (Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands, and Arches) in one download. For Grand Canyon and Mesa Verde, add the single guides above.

Short on time at one stop? Just an Afternoon is my free four-hour plan for every U.S. National Park.

Grand Circle Road Trip FAQ

Is the Grand Circle really a circle? Close enough. Driven from Las Vegas as above, it's a loop of about 1,250 miles between parks, and you never retrace more than a few miles.

Can I add the Grand Canyon's North Rim? Yes, but it's a separate spur: about 4.5 hours by road from the South Rim, open only from mid-May into late fall, with no lodging inside the park in 2026. It fits best between Zion and Bryce, from Kanab.

Do I need reservations to enter any of these parks? Not in 2026. None of the seven required a timed-entry reservation this year. You'll still need tickets for Mesa Verde's cliff dwelling tours and permits for some hikes, like Angels Landing and the Fiery Furnace. Check Zion National Park alerts and Mesa Verde National Park alerts for your dates.

What's the hardest leg to drive? Mesa Verde to the Grand Canyon, for length rather than difficulty: about 290 miles on two-lane roads with long gaps between towns. Start early, fill up in Cortez, and plan on most of the day.

More Road Trips and Park Pages

• Utah Mighty 5 Road Trip: Route, Miles, and How Many Days You Need
• Arizona National Parks Road Trip: Saguaro to the Grand Canyon by Way of the Painted Desert

Before you go: roads, campgrounds, and visitor centers close for snow, fire, and repairs, so check each park's alerts and current conditions, updated daily: Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands, Arches, Grand Canyon, Mesa Verde. For every park at a glance, see the park conditions dashboard.

Planning a different route? See all my National Park road trips.

This is an independent guide. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by the National Park Service. Driving times are estimates without stops, and conditions change; check each park's current alerts before you go.