Drive guide
About 250 miles and 4 hr 43 min to 5 hr 19 min behind the wheel, an hour lost to the clock, and 5,893 feet of climbing. Here are the three routes, side by side, with cameras on them.
All three leave Las Vegas the same way and finish the same way. For the first 126 miles they are one road, I-15 through Mesquite, the Virgin River Gorge and St. George. They split at three different exits to climb from the desert to US-89, then meet again at the foot of Scenic Byway 12, 17 miles from the park. The solid line is the one we drive.
The interactive map needs JavaScript. All three routes leave Las Vegas on I-15 north and cross the Virgin River Gorge into Utah. They split at St. George (SR-9 for Zion), Cedar City (SR-14 for Duck Creek) and I-15 exit 95 (SR-20), and meet again on US-89 before Scenic Byway 12 takes you east to the park.
We traced all three on the same day with the same router so the numbers compare fairly. The result surprises people: the shortest route is the slowest, and the scenic route over the mountain costs only 9 minutes against the fastest.
| Route | Miles | Drive time | High point | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Via Cedar City and Duck Creek I-15 north to Cedar City, SR-14 east over the Markagunt Plateau, US-89 north, Scenic Byway 12 east, SR-63 south | 248 | 4 hr 52 min | 9,905 ft | A two-day drive with a night in the mountains, or anyone who wants the scenic way in a car or SUV. Cedar Canyon, the 9,905 ft summit, Navajo Lake and Duck Creek Village, then Red Canyon. |
| Via SR-20 I-15 north to exit 95, SR-20 east, US-89 south through Panguitch, Scenic Byway 12 east, SR-63 south | 260 | 4 hr 43 min | 7,912 ft | Getting there fastest, towing, driving an RV, or crossing in a snowstorm. Open sagebrush country, the Sevier Valley and Panguitch, then Red Canyon. |
| Via Zion National Park I-15 north to exit 16, SR-9 east through Springdale and the Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel, US-89 north, Scenic Byway 12 east, SR-63 south | 244 | 5 hr 19 min | 7,894 ft | Seeing Zion on the way, in a vehicle that fits the tunnel, with time to spare. Springdale, the Zion-Mount Carmel switchbacks and tunnel, Checkerboard Mesa, Long Valley. |
Times are no-stop driving at the router's own speed model, which runs a little under interstate speed limits, so a phone may show less. Measured from downtown Las Vegas; from the Strip, add about 5 miles and 5 minutes to each.
248 miles, 4 hr 52 min. Off I-15 at Cedar City and straight up Cedar Canyon on Highway 14, over a 9,905-foot summit and across the top of the Markagunt Plateau through aspen and pine, past Navajo Lake and through Duck Creek Village. It is the only route that climbs into real mountains rather than skirting them, and the top can be 20 degrees cooler than Cedar City. We are biased, because we live on it, but the numbers are not: it costs nine minutes.
260 miles, 4 hr 43 min, and it is what a router gives you if you do not ask for anything else. You stay on the interstate 37 miles longer, past Parowan to exit 95, then cross to US-89 on SR-20 over a 7,912-foot summit and drop south through Panguitch. It is open, empty country with long sightlines and no towns on SR-20 itself. This is the route for RVs, trailers, and snowstorms.
244 miles, 5 hr 19 min before any traffic. You leave I-15 at exit 16, drive SR-9 through Hurricane and Springdale and straight through Zion National Park: the canyon switchbacks, the 1.1-mile Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel and the slickrock country past Checkerboard Mesa. It is spectacular and slow. You pay Zion's $35 fee even to drive through, summer traffic in Springdale and at the tunnel can add a lot to the router's time, and since June 2026 vehicles over 11'4" tall, 7'10" wide or 35'9" long cannot use the road at all. The Zion end of this route has its own guide: Zion to Bryce Canyon, mile by mile.
Las Vegas sits at 2,001 feet and the Bryce Canyon Visitor Center at 7,894, so every route climbs nearly 5,900 feet net. They climb it differently. Highway 14 goes highest, to 9,905 feet, then comes down to the village and down again to US-89 before the last pull up to the rim. SR-20 crests about 2,000 feet lower. The Zion route stays in the desert longest and does its climbing late.
This is the Duck Creek route, the one we would send a friend on in a car or SUV between May and October. The first three legs are the same on every route as far as St. George.
I-15 north out of the valley, over the Apex grade and down through the Moapa Valley. It is the dullest and fastest stretch of the day. Mesquite is the last Nevada town and the obvious first fuel stop.
Elevation drops, not rises: Mesquite sits below Las Vegas.
I-15 cuts across the corner of Arizona and threads the Virgin River Gorge, a narrow canyon with tight curves, no services and patchy phone signal. A crash here can close the interstate, and the detour is long. The two Arizona cameras below bracket it.
Utah line at mile 110.5. Mountain Time from here.
Past St. George the interstate climbs the Black Ridge and the desert turns to juniper. The Zion route leaves at exit 16. Our route stays on I-15 to Cedar City and turns east on Center Street, which becomes Highway 14.
Cedar City is the last large town before the mountain. Fill the tank here.
The road leaves Cedar City at 5,846 feet and climbs Cedar Canyon for 17 miles to a summit at 9,905 feet, with about two miles at close to 7 percent near the top. Highway 148 to Cedar Breaks leaves just past the summit. Then the road eases down past Navajo Lake into Duck Creek Village at 8,455 feet.
The highest road on any of the three routes, and the one that needs watching in winter.
East on Highway 14 down to Long Valley Junction at 7,460 feet, north on US-89 through Hatch, then right onto Scenic Byway 12. The SR-20 and Zion routes have joined you by now.
Miss the Byway 12 turn and you end up in Panguitch.
Byway 12 climbs into Red Canyon, where the orange hoodoos start well before the park, and passes through two short arches cut in the rock. South on SR-63 at the roundabout and you are at the Bryce Canyon Visitor Center.
The Red Canyon Visitor Center has restrooms and no fee.
Mileposts are measured from downtown Las Vegas along the traced Duck Creek route. Elevations are USGS figures, or the Park Service's own at Bryce.
| Mile | Landmark | Elevation |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Las Vegas Mile 0 is downtown, where I-15 meets US-95. From the Strip, add about five miles and five minutes. All three routes leave town the same way: I-15 north. | 2,001 ft |
| 81.2 | Mesquite and the Arizona line The last Nevada town. Past it, I-15 crosses a 29-mile corner of Arizona, including the Virgin River Gorge. Arizona does not use daylight saving time, so in winter your phone may jump an hour here rather than at the Utah line. | — |
| 110.5 | Utah state line Mountain Time from here on. You are an hour later than Las Vegas for the rest of the trip, in every season. | — |
| 118 | St. George The largest town between Las Vegas and Bryce. The Zion route leaves I-15 eight miles north of here, at exit 16 for SR-9. | 2,860 ft |
| 169.8 | Cedar City Leave I-15 and turn east on Center Street, which becomes SR-14. The last large town, with full services, before the mountain. | 5,846 ft |
| 186.9 | SR-14 summit The highest point of any route on this page, 17 miles and 4,059 feet above Cedar City. UDOT has a camera and a weather sensor here. Highway 148 to Cedar Breaks leaves just past it. | 9,905 ft |
| 199.2 | Duck Creek Village Inn On the route, not off it. 199 miles from Las Vegas and 49 miles short of the Bryce visitor center, at 8,455 feet. | 8,455 ft |
| 210.3 | Long Valley Junction SR-14 ends at US-89. Turn left, north. No services at the junction. | 7,460 ft |
| 223 | Hatch The first town on US-89 after Long Valley Junction, in an open river valley. | 6,943 ft |
| 230.9 | US-89 and Scenic Byway 12 All three routes meet here and turn east onto Scenic Byway 12. Eighteen miles to go. | 6,745 ft |
| 234.7 | Red Canyon Visitor Center Dixie National Forest, no fee, restrooms and water, and the first orange hoodoos of the day. Two short rock arches carry the road through a fin just east of it. | 7,100 ft |
| 244.5 | SR-12 and SR-63 South on SR-63 at the roundabout into Bryce Canyon City and the park. | 7,611 ft |
| 248.2 | Bryce Canyon Visitor Center The end of the drive, 5,893 feet above downtown Las Vegas. Card only at the entrance station: Bryce is cashless. | 7,894 ft |
Worth a detour off the route: Navajo Lake, a few minutes south of Highway 14 before the village; Strawberry Point, a high overlook on a gravel road south of Duck Creek; and in summer Cedar Breaks, off the SR-14 summit.
All three routes stay open through the winter, and most winter days the roads are dry. What changes is how high you go and how fast the weather can change up there.
Live surface conditions, plows and every camera on these roads: road conditions and live cams.
从拉斯维加斯大道到 Duck Creek Village 全程 325 公里沿线的 DOT 实时摄像头,按行车顺序排列:内华达州 I-15(拉斯维加斯至 Mesquite)、亚利桑那州 Virgin River Gorge 峡谷两端的摄像头,以及犹他州 I-15 和 SR-14 盘山路段。画面约每分钟刷新一次。
这段峡谷是大家最常问的路段——I-15 在 Littlefield(亚利桑那州)与犹他州界之间穿行约 32 公里狭窄峡谷,沿途没有加油站和餐饮,手机信号也时有时无。亚利桑那州交通厅在这段路上只有两个摄像头,分别位于峡谷两端,峡谷内部没有任何摄像头——因此这两个画面中出现缓行或停驶车流,就是峡谷中段出状况的最早信号。
I-15 @ Littlefield / Milepost 7.7 (south end of the gorge)
I-15 @ the Utah line / Milepost 28.1 (north end of the gorge)
如果事故导致峡谷封闭,车流将改走旧 US-91 经 Beaver Dam 和 Utah Hill 绕行——至少多花 30–45 分钟,大家同时绕行时会更久。亚利桑那州路况警报见 az511.gov.
I-15 @ Tropicana Ave / the Strip
I-15 @ the Spaghetti Bowl (I-11/US-95)
I-15 @ Speedway Blvd
I-15 @ Mesquite / Sandhill Blvd
I-15 @ Flamingo Rd
I-15 @ Craig Rd / North Las Vegas
I-15 @ Apex / Milepost 60
过了 Apex,I-15 穿越 Moapa Valley 约 95 公里完全没有摄像头——下一个实时画面在 Mesquite,就在亚利桑那州界前。
I-15 @ St. George / Milepost 5.3
I-15 @ Black Ridge / Milepost 37.3
I-15 @ Cedar City / Milepost 57
SR-14 @ Duck Creek Village / Milepost 31.06
SR-14 @ Milepost 8.12 (Cedar Canyon)
SR-14 Summit @ Milepost 17.3
摄像头画面由内华达、亚利桑那和犹他三州交通厅提供,约每分钟刷新一次。完整网络: nvroads.com · az511.gov · udottraffic.utah.gov
Five hours of driving and an hour lost to the clock means a same-day arrival at Bryce late in the afternoon, tired, with the light going. Splitting the drive fixes that, and on the Duck Creek route the split falls in the right place: 199 miles and about 3 hr 44 min on the first day, 49 miles and about 1 hr 8 min on the second.
Leave Las Vegas after lunch and you are in Duck Creek Village by early evening, 8,455 feet up, in the pines, with Navajo Lake and Aspen Mirror Lake a few minutes away. In the morning Bryce is a little over an hour east, which puts you at the rim before the midday crowd, or in time for sunrise if you leave in the dark. Nobody backtracks: the inn is on the route, not off it.
If you are doing Zion too, Duck Creek is also about an hour from Zion's East Entrance, so one base covers both parks.
Hotel rooms at the inn Cabins Duck Creek Village Inn Planning from Las Vegas
The questions we answer most often from guests driving up from Las Vegas.
About 250 miles by road. Measured from downtown Las Vegas to the Bryce Canyon Visitor Center it is 260 miles by the fastest route (I-15 and SR-20), 248 miles through Cedar City and Duck Creek Village (I-15 and SR-14), and 244 miles through Zion (I-15 and SR-9). From the Strip, add about 5 miles.
About 4 hr 43 min of driving by the fastest route, 4 hr 52 min through Duck Creek and 5 hr 19 min through Zion, without stops. Your phone may show a little less, because routing apps assume interstate speeds closer to the limit. With one stop for fuel and food, plan on about five and a half hours of travel, which reads as six and a half on the clock once you cross into Utah.
It depends on what you are driving and when. The fastest is I-15 north to exit 95, SR-20 east, US-89 south and Scenic Byway 12 east. The most scenic in a car is I-15 to Cedar City and Highway 14 over the mountain, which is only 9 minutes slower and puts you in Duck Creek Village if you want to stop for the night. Through Zion is shortest on paper but slowest in practice and costs a second park fee.
Take I-15 north out of Las Vegas through Mesquite, the Virgin River Gorge and St. George. For the fastest route, stay on I-15 past Cedar City to exit 95, take SR-20 east to US-89, turn right (south) through Panguitch, then turn left onto Scenic Byway 12 east. For the Duck Creek route, leave I-15 in Cedar City, follow Center Street east onto Highway 14, then turn left onto US-89 at Long Valley Junction and right onto Byway 12. On either route, turn south on SR-63 at the roundabout to reach the park.
Yes. Utah is on Mountain Time and Nevada on Pacific Time, so Bryce is one hour ahead of Las Vegas all year. You lose the hour on the way there and get it back on the way home.
Yes, by SR-20. UDOT advises large vehicles not to use SR-14 or SR-143 because of their steep grades and sharp curves, even when navigation apps suggest them. Through Zion, vehicles over 11'4" tall, 7'10" wide, 35'9" long, or 50' combined, are banned from the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway outright since 7 June 2026. SR-20 has neither problem and is the fastest route anyway.
You can, but it is close to ten hours of driving round trip before you see a single viewpoint, with an hour lost to the time change on the way out. Most people are better off splitting it: 199 miles to Duck Creek Village on the first day, then 49 miles and about an hour to Bryce the next morning.
9 November 2026
Distances and drive times on this page were traced along the real roads with OpenStreetMap routing on 9 November 2026, all three routes the same day from the same start point, and cross-checked against the separate traces behind our Zion to Bryce, Bryce Canyon and Highway 14 winter guides. Elevations are USGS 3DEP samples along the same lines, or the Park Service's published figures at Bryce. Fees, the Zion tunnel limits, large-vehicle advice and seasonal closures come from the National Park Service and the Utah Department of Transportation, read the same day. Where we could not confirm something from a primary source, it is not on the page.
Start from the broader guide hub for the full set of destinations and planning pages.
The park at the end of the drive, the road between the two parks, and the live conditions behind the cameras.
Where to sleep near Bryce, and what to see on the way.
比较以 Duck Creek 作为 Bryce Canyon 行程基地的住宿方式。
比较住宿The climb up Highway 14, chains and 4WD, snow depths, daylight, and storm-day calls
开始规划The Utah Shakespeare Festival, two free university museums, Parowan Gap, Kanarra Falls, and what each one costs.
查看页面Rooms and cabins on Highway 14, on the scenic route to Bryce.
On Highway 14, 199 miles from Las Vegas and about an hour from Bryce Canyon.
