I love this place any time of the day. I would agree with the above answers. I love early morning and just before sunset.

You won’t find snow unless you head up to Mt Charleston, where you can find tubing and skiing. Red Rock will be about 10 degrees cooler than the valley. The sun and killing will keep you pretty warm plan anywhere from 50-70 degrees depending on the time of day you go and weather patterns in general in December. It’s beautiful!

We just visited Sept 2022, didn’t have any type of reservation and had no problems for our self guided tour/exploration.

It says October 1st on the official Red Rock Canyon web site. Have fun! 🙂

The visitor centre is open from 9 am - 4:30 pm but the park is open 24/7 if you have a camping permit and once you're inside

October 31-May 1 requires a timed entry, between 8-5, to use the scenic drive (which is the only way to travel through the area). Reservation form is online.

Red Rock Canyon resort has some views of the National park

The Red Rock Loop Road is 13 miles long at an average speed of 25mph...so that's approximately 30 minutes just for the driving time. Right when you enter the park just passed the fee station you will want to stop at Calico I and again at Calico II as both of these locations show the rich red colored sandstone rock formations. The next location shortly down the road is the Sandstone Quarry area with white rock formations. Just under the halfway mark you will come to the highest point on the loop drive at 4771 ft. High Point Overlook. From here you can see a little bit of Vegas in the background, if the air quality is good, while being able to view the entire park from the mountainside. At the end of the loop road turn left on Highway 159 to head back to Las Vegas and just on your left side you can stop at Red Rock Overlook. From this point you will have a great view back into the canyon seeing all of the Red Rock National Park all together. Plan from the point of entering the park...I would give yourself an hour and a half to drive and stop at these locations and that's keeping it short, at maybe 5-10 minute per stop. There are several other points to see but these are my highlights when I drive family and friends to Red Rock that are also on time constraints. I hope that you take this amount of time to see this beautiful desert park and enjoy your time.

I have never been in October. I would watch the weather channel or news prior. You do have the option to drive the loop so if the weather is not the best you can still view the canyon area. You don’t want to miss seeing. We are glad we went! Enjoy!

Red Rock Canyon is a 26 mile driving loop. There are several places to walk in off of the main road and not pay the fee...I guess. Also, something to keep in mind, many people have no phone service out there so you might find yourself walking closer to Vegas to be able to call that UBER back.