In Las Vegas for the 2026 F1 Grand Prix? Add a Grand Canyon Day
The racing happens after dark. That’s the part of a Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend that catches first-timers off guard: the cars run at night down the Strip, so the hours that would normally be spoken for are the ones you’re free.
And the Grand Canyon’s West Rim sits about two hours from your hotel.
You’ve flown in for the race. The track doesn’t light up until evening, which leaves your daytime wide open. One of those open days is all it takes to stand on the West Rim of the Grand Canyon, walk the crest of Hoover Dam, or drive the red-rock loop west of the city.
The Race Weekend at a Glance
The Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix runs November 19–21, 2026 on the Las Vegas Strip Circuit, the temporary street track that laps the resort corridor and the Strip itself. It’s the fourth running since F1 returned to Las Vegas in 2023, and the headline race goes off Saturday night, November 21, with practice and qualifying across the evenings before it. Because the sessions run at night, your days stay open, which is the whole opportunity here.
Your Days Are Open. Use One.
Most people fly in Wednesday or Thursday for a race weekend and stay through Saturday night. The cars don’t run until evening, so the daylight hours are yours. Rather than spending them in a casino or stuck in Strip traffic near a closed-off track, you can put one toward something you can’t see anywhere near home.
The Grand Canyon’s West Rim is about a two-hour drive from the Strip, an easy full day out and back. Hoover Dam and Red Rock Canyon are half-day trips within about 30 minutes of the city, for a day that’s only partly free. And if you arrive early in the week, the South Rim, the classic national-park view, is worth a full day of its own.
The Day Trip to Add
Getting there doesn’t take a rental car, which matters on a weekend when road closures ring the Strip. Canyon Tours is a Las Vegas-owned tour operator that’s run Grand Canyon and area departures every day since 2001, and hotel pickup on our coach tours is complimentary. Choose an open day, and here’s what fits it:
| If you have | Trip that fits | See tours |
|---|---|---|
| A full open day | Grand Canyon West Rim, the closest rim to Las Vegas | West Rim tours |
| A full day, with time to spare | Grand Canyon South Rim, inside the national park | South Rim tours |
| A free morning | Hoover Dam or Red Rock Canyon, a half day out and back | Hoover Dam · Red Rock Canyon |
| A full day for quieter desert scenery | Valley of Fire, Nevada’s oldest state park | Valley of Fire tours |
For how each of these trips fits into a multi-day visit, including how much of a day each one takes and how pickup works, see our full guide to adding a Grand Canyon or national park day to a Las Vegas trip.
A Word on Race-Weekend Logistics
Grand Prix weekend is one of the busiest of the year in Las Vegas, and the track build closes sections of the Strip and nearby roads. Two things follow from that. Book your tour when you book your travel, because the departures fill. And take a morning departure so you’re out of the city and back well before the evening’s road closures and race-night crowds set in. Return times move with traffic and weather in any case, so plan the Grand Canyon or Valley of Fire as a full day rather than something to squeeze.
Booking Around the Weekend
Departures run daily, hotel pickup is complimentary on our coach tours, and you reconfirm the day before with your hotel and room number so the driver knows where to meet you. Pick an open day, take the morning departure, and we’ll take care of the rest.
Canyon Tours runs Grand Canyon and area park departures daily from Las Vegas, with hotel pickup. See current prices and dates: West Rim, South Rim, Hoover Dam, Red Rock Canyon, and Valley of Fire.
Sources: F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix official site; RacingNews365.
Written by Ria Borja
