LA in 7 Days on a Budget (With Daily Costs)

Seven Days From LA: Death Valley, Vegas, the Grand Canyon, and a Full Utah Loop

Seven days is the full version of this route: the 6-day plan ’s Death Valley, Las Vegas, and Zion, plus one more park added on, Bryce Canyon, just under 2 hours past Zion. It’s the same spine as the shorter versions of this trip, only extended at the far end, so if seven days is too much, drop back to the 6-day or 5-day version rather than reinventing the route. Your road trip technically starts on Route 66 whether you plan it or not; the historic western terminus is Santa Monica, and the “End of the Trail” sign at the pier (installed in 2009) marks the spot symbolically, not the literal 1930s endpoint, worth a five-minute photo stop before you point the car east.

Book these before you go:

Day 1: Los Angeles to Death Valley

Budget 260-270 miles and 4.5-5 hours. Entry is $30 per vehicle for seven days (details on the official NPS Death Valley site ), no non-resident surcharge here. Cover Zabriskie Point and Badwater Basin in the afternoon. Stay at Furnace Creek or Stovepipe Wells, or drive 45 minutes further to Beatty, Nevada, where rooms run roughly 60% cheaper and gas about 25% cheaper.

Day 2: Death Valley to Las Vegas

A short stop at Dante’s View, then 120-142 miles and 2 to 2.5 hours to Las Vegas via NV-160. This is your base for the next several nights; off-Strip properties dodge the $35-65 resort fees charged at mid-Strip and luxury hotels.

Day 3: Grand Canyon West Rim, a day trip from Vegas

Budget 125 miles and 2 to 2.5 hours each way, leaving by 7am. General Admission is $67 per person, the All-Access Pass with the Skywalk runs about $99 (roughly $113.54 with fees). It’s Hualapai tribal land, not an NPS unit (official visitor FAQs ), so no $35 vehicle fee and no $100 non-resident surcharge here.

Day 4: Las Vegas to Zion National Park

The drive north is 160-170 miles and 2.5 to 3 hours via I-15, and you’ll lose an hour crossing into Mountain time. Zion’s fee is $35 per vehicle for seven days plus the new $100 per-person non-resident surcharge (16 and older) as of January 2026 (current Zion fees ). The shuttle is free and needs no separate ticket, though Angels Landing and the Narrows require their own permits. Overnight in Springdale, right at the park gate.

Day 5: Zion to Bryce Canyon

A short morning in Zion (Riverside Walk or Emerald Pools), then the drive to Bryce Canyon: about 80 miles and under 2 hours. Bryce charges the same structure as Zion, $35 per vehicle for seven days plus the $100 non-resident surcharge (current Bryce Canyon fees ). If you’re hitting both surcharge parks on this trip, the $250 non-resident annual pass, which covers the holder plus three more adults in one vehicle across all 11 affected parks, is worth pricing against paying $100 per person twice. Overnight near Bryce or back at Zion, whichever your booking allows.

Day 6: Bryce Canyon back to Las Vegas

This is the longest driving day of the trip: retracing the Zion road back to Vegas totals roughly 4 to 4.5 hours combined. Leave with a full tank; gas options thin out fast once you’re back on the interstate stretches between St. George and Vegas.

Day 7: Las Vegas to Los Angeles

The final leg is 270 miles and 4-4.5 hours down I-15. Leave by early afternoon to beat traffic into LA, and top off the tank in Nevada before the state line one last time.

Day Focus Drive Overnight
1 LA to Death Valley 260-270 mi / 4.5-5h Furnace Creek or Beatty
2 Death Valley to Las Vegas 120-142 mi / 2-2.5h Las Vegas
3 Grand Canyon West Rim day trip 125 mi / 2-2.5h each way Las Vegas
4 Las Vegas to Zion 160-170 mi / 2.5-3h Springdale
5 Zion to Bryce Canyon ~80 mi / under 2h Bryce area
6 Bryce back to Las Vegas ~4-4.5h combined Las Vegas
7 Vegas to LA 270 mi / 4-4.5h Back in LA

Do Zion and Bryce Canyon both charge the non-resident surcharge?

Yes, both are on the list of 11 national parks charging the $100-per-person non-resident surcharge that started January 2026, on top of each park’s own $35 vehicle entrance fee. Hitting both on one trip means $200 per person extra unless you buy the $250 non-resident annual pass, which covers the passholder plus three more adults riding in the same vehicle.

Should you visit the Grand Canyon’s South Rim instead of the West Rim on this trip?

Not on this route. The South Rim is the more famous side but sits roughly 490 miles and 8-8.5 hours direct from LA, a separate multi-day trip in its own right. The West Rim, reached from Las Vegas in 2 to 2.5 hours, fits this itinerary’s timeline; the South Rim doesn’t without adding several more days.

What a week of driving actually costs

Across seven days you’re covering roughly 1,300 miles round trip between the legs above. At 25 miles per gallon and $4.50-5.50-plus a gallon on the California end, that’s $230-290 in fuel alone, plus the $30 Death Valley fee, $67-99 for the Grand Canyon, and $135-235 per person for Zion and Bryce combined depending on the surcharge math. Sequoia National Park is a genuine LA gateway destination too, but it sits in the opposite direction, roughly 215-225 miles and 4.5-5.5 hours north via I-5 and CA-99/198, and it doesn’t fit onto this eastbound loop; save it for its own separate trip rather than trying to add it here.

Packing for a week of desert and canyon driving

Water matters more than any single sight on this route. Carry at least one gallon per person in the car at all times, refilled at every gas stop, since Death Valley and the stretch between Furnace Creek and Vegas both have long gaps with nothing open. Cell coverage drops out completely inside Death Valley, on parts of the West Rim access road, and in stretches of the Utah backcountry between Zion and Bryce, so download offline maps before you leave Las Vegas rather than counting on a signal to reroute you. A basic tire-pressure gauge and a full-size spare are worth checking before you drive out of the rental lot; a flat on a two-lane desert road with no shoulder traffic is a genuinely bad place to discover you don’t have one.

Layer clothing for the trip as a whole rather than packing for any single day. Las Vegas and Death Valley run hot even outside summer, while Zion and Bryce sit at higher elevation and run 15-20 degrees cooler, with Bryce cold enough at night for a jacket in spring and fall. One set of layers that works everywhere beats packing separately for desert heat and mountain cold.