Advice for a November visit to Las Vegas

kwc

kwc

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I have a friend who is thinking about going to Vegas in November and is looking for hiking ideas around there She believes they will be there a week. So my friends, ant ideas? Is Death Valley too far a drive for a couple days of visiting? They’ve thought about the Grand Canyon but I thought that the weather might be a potential issue (south rim as the north rim will probably be closed).
Thank you!
 
The hiking book I have for the Vegas area includes hikes in Death Valley and Mojave Preserve so they might be considered close enough.
I second Red Rocks and also Valley of Fire.
Best website I have seen for that area is birdandhike.com. Guy who runs it is an ecologist and hiker.
 
Death Valley is only a couple of hours from Vegas and it is a very easy drive to the east side of the park. On the way is Ash Meadows NWR that has looked interesting as I have driven by (but too hot in July).
 
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Lake Mead National Rec Area has everything you could want: slot canyons, hot springs, rock art, mountain scrambles, crosscountry hiking.

I started years ago with nothing but a plane tix, rental car and this book:
"Afoot and Afield" LV and S. NV Brian Beffort

Here's a sample of close to LV:

Wild Las Vegas, naturally. Sampler, 3 different dayhikes Nov 17, 19, 20 2017

Less than 30 miles driving out from Las Vegas in three different directions to three vastly different landscapes. Nov 17: Lostman Canyon descent to the Colorado River, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, AZ. This is a little known canyon north of the famed AZ Hot Springs/White Rock Canyon loop...
backcountrypost.com

Red Rock(s) Canyon Natl.Conservation Area Hikes and Scrambles Nov. 15 and 16, 2017

Home sick with abdominal pain, dreaming of the Mojave desert. Thought I'd pass the time with a retro trip report from last fall. Nov 15: Great figure 8 loop of 4 fun scramble peaks of the Calico Basin area of Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area outside of Vegas. First Kraft Mountain...
backcountrypost.com

Sloan Canyon & Lake Mead summits and rock art Nov 26-28, 2016

After my time in Death Valley I parked it at Lake Mead Boulder Campground for a few nights with the intent to do some dayhikes. Being that I hadn't seen much rock art in a while, I had a craving. Most of the sites I had yet to see nearby were short hikes, or even drive ups with a 4WD, so I...
backcountrypost.com

Summits and Rock Art in Nevada's Mojave Nov 8-10, 2016

OK, so no one knows where Lincoln County Nevada is. Well, I'll tell you it is in the heart of the geographic province known as the Basin and Range. Deserts meet here. The basins fall within the Mojave Desert ecology, while the ranges reach up through the Great Basin desert ecology zone and...
backcountrypost.com

Lake Mead Natl Recreation Area North Shore scramble fun. Nov. 28-30, 2019

Three days of walking and scrambling, beginning with a short day on the 28th in advance of a strong wet cold front. Well, almost advance, I ended up getting caught in heavy hail and rain and lightning on the top of Black Mesa. Vertical ground strike over Lake Mead sent me running! Short hike...
backcountrypost.com
 
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Grand Canyon in November can be great. Fewer people vying for permits, cooler temperatures. Chance of snow on the rim, of course, and traction sometimes necessary, but I will only hike Grand Canyon in Mar/Apr and Nov/Dec. Best times to go in my opinion.
 
Thanks everyone! I’ve passed your recommendations onto my friend (former co-worker).
 
""Afoot and Afield" LV and S. NV Brian Beffort"
This is the book I was referring to!
 
I don't know what the people situation has been like that time of year, lately, but my automatic response to a couple of days free in November is that I'd be:
-at Valley of Fire early in the morning on day 1, hiking the White Domes, Fire Wave, and Rainbow Vista
-in Springdale, UT by 4pm, getting a drypants or drysuit package from Zion Adventure Company
-stepping off the Riverside Walk into the Virgin River around sunup the next morning, hiking the Narrows up to Big Springs, and Orderville Canyon up to Veiled Falls
 
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