Las Vegas, Nevada, USA with a panoramic view of the Las Vegas Strip taken at night.
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Road Trips

Road Trip from New York to Las Vegas

By Dianne Titos | Updated on 21 August 2023

The epic road trip from New York to Las Vegas will take you through buzzing cities, beautiful mountains, stunning deserts and lush parks and forests. For an unforgettable and fun-filled adventure that's out of this world, then this the trip for you. Just make sure you save some energy for your time in Sin City!

The 2,600 mile road trip from New York to Las Vegas will take 39 hours to drive. Key stops include Chicago, Colorado, Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Nevada, as well as Oklahoma, Ohio, Zion National Park, Denver, Utah, Flatirons and Arches National Park.

There are a huge number of great places to visit between New York and Las Vegas - as well as some fantastic natural wonders to admire - so be sure to keep reading until the end to for our top recommendations on the best route to take, where you can stay, the things to see and do and the best time of year for this trip.

How far is Las Vegas from New York and how long will the road trip take?

Comparison of road trip routes between New York and Las Vegas
RouteDistanceDriving Time
The Colorado Route2,600 miles39 hours
The New Mexico Route2,900 miles49 hours

The route between New York to Las Vegas spans a distance of 2,500 miles. If you were to drive non-stop on the most direct route, the entire trip would take at least 38 hours of non-stop driving.

That said, with such a fantastic choice of places to visit on this cross-country journey, we're instead going to suggest a couple of slightly longer routes that give you the opportunity to truly make this your own ideal adventure.

The quickest of the two routes takes 2,600 miles and detours into New Mexico. At 39 hours, it's not much longer than the most direct route. meanwhile our second option is slightly longer at 2,900 miles and will take closer to 49 hours to drive.

You could easily spend several weeks completing this road trip. An ideal length is between 7 to 14 days, depending on how much time you'd like to spend in each location and how many overnight stops you would like to include along the way.

Las Vegas, Nevada, USA with hotels and casinos along the strip taken at dusk.
The bright lights of Las Vegas are a hugely popular tourist destination and a great destination to finish on.
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Best road trip route from New York to Las Vegas

The quickest route to Las Vegas to New York will take you through Albuquerque and Santa Fe in New Mexico, as well as Oklahoma and Columbus. Aside from the detour to make the most of the great attractions in New Mexico, it more or less follows the most direct route.

If you have slightly longer to spend on this adventure, then you should consider our alternative option which makes the most of the views around Nevada and Utah. This option, while longer in mileage and time spend on the road, also includes a visit to Chicago.

Both routes will see you move horizontally through several states before arriving at the bright lights of Las Vegas. Your choice on which option you take will largely depend upon the visits you'd like to make along the way.

How to drive from New York to Las Vegas