Things to do in Las Vegas & the Grand Canyon

On the Strip, more than a thousand Fountains of Bellagio dance to music and light for free, Bellagio's Conservatory & Botanical Gardens beside the hotel lobby turn into a holiday display of plants, color and scent, and Sphere screens The Wizard of Oz as a 4D film with seat haptics, wind, fog and scent effects; the Neon Museum's outdoor Neon Boneyard keeps historic Las Vegas signs. Just outside the city, drive the 13-mile scenic loop through the red sandstone cliffs of Red Rock Canyon, look for petrified trees and petroglyphs more than 2,000 years old at Valley of Fire State Park, photograph the brightly painted boulder towers of Seven Magic Mountains and join a tour at Hoover Dam. Farther out, free shuttles link Mather Point and the Yavapai Geology Museum on the Grand Canyon's South Rim, and the glass Skywalk at Grand Canyon West hangs 4,000 feet above the canyon floor on lands of the Hualapai Tribe. Near Lake Powell, join a guided tour into the slot canyons of Antelope Canyon on Navajo Nation land and walk to the Horseshoe Bend overlook above the Colorado River, then ride the free Zion Canyon Shuttle from the visitor center to the Temple of Sinawava in Zion National Park.

Good to knowRed Rock Canyon requires a timed-entry reservation on Recreation.gov for daytime entry in the cooler months, many Valley of Fire trails close in the hot season, and Hoover Dam tour tickets are sold only in person on site. Antelope Canyon can be entered only with a guided tour from an operator on the Navajo Nation Parks list, and the Horseshoe Bend trail has no water and much of the rim has no railing. During shuttle season private cars cannot use Zion's Scenic Drive, and Sphere does not allow late seating, so arrive when doors open 45 minutes ahead.