Need advise on trip to Grand Canyon and Yosemite National Park?

I will be travelling to Grand Canyon and Yosemite National Park in mid May. I’ll land in Las Vegas first. After Grand Canyon I will go to Yosemite National Park. Do I need to rent a car to travel to Grand Canyon and Yosemite National Park? Is the road save to drive? If I drive to Grand Canyon, should I drive into the park or should I park the car outside and take the shuttle?

Yes, you have to rent a car unless you plan to fly from Las Vegas to Grand Canyon Airport. The distance from Las Vegas Airport to Grand Canyon Village on the sourth rim is 275 miles. The route follows I-515 / US-93 / I-40 / SR-64 and will take about 4 hours and 20 minutes to drive not including any stops you may make along the way. This is a safe road to drive as long as you’re on your toes and don’t fall asleep at the wheel. If your rental car doesn’t have driving lights, use your head lights to make yourself more visible to oncoming traffic when driving on undivided highways. Drive into Grand Canyon Village and park the car near your hotel/lodge accommodations. I like the Maswik and Yavapai Lodges because they are situated away from the rim, are less crowded, less expensive and have a cafeteria. You should use the free shuttles to get around the village area and the west rim. There is no shuttle service to the east rim so use your car to drive out to Desert View. The alternative to renting a car is to fly into Grand Canyon Airport located just outside the south entrance of the park and take the bus into Grand Canyon Village. If you do that you’ll have to buy a ticket for a commercial tour to see the east rim.

The distance from Grand Canyon Village to Yosemite Valley is approximately 700 miles. The route follows SR-64 / I-40 / SR-58 / SR-99 / SR-41 / SR-140 and will take you about 10 hours and 30 minutes not including stops. If you don’t have someone to share the drive with you may want to split this drive over two days with an overnight stop in Barstow. If you are alone and decide to drive the entire distance in one day, use common sense and pull over if you get drowsy. Take a 15-20 minute nap before continuing. The alternative would be to fly from Grand Canyon Airport to Las Vegas or Pheonix then take a flight from there to Fresno where you’ll have to rent a car to make the 95 mile drive to Yosemite Village (about 1 hour, 50 minutes).

If you’re returning to Las Vegas from Yosemite, the shortest and quickest route follows SR-140 / SR-120 / US-395 / SR-168 / SR-266 / US-95 / I-15. This drive is 410 miles long and takes almost 7 hours. However, this route takes you through some remote areas of eastern California and Western Nevada. The longer route follows SR-140 / SR-40 / SR-99 / SR-58 / I-15, is 485 miles long and takes about 7 and a half hours. This route is heavily traveled so you need not worry about being stranded if your car breaks down.

I’ve driven all of these routes and they are all quite safe and very doable. All roads are paved and well maintained so you need not worry about taking the rental car off road which violates the rental agreement.

I’ve been to the Grand Canyon six times and to Yosemite more than 15 times. If you’re wondering whether these parks are worth the effort to get to them, let me just say that you’re talking about two of the crown jewels of American National Parks. Yes, they are worth the time and effort to get there. Enjoy your trip!