Sometime during your Vegas vacation, you may want to step out and see the
"neighborhood". We provide information on the attractions that are the best
daytrips in the Las Vegas area.
If you want to take some time for fishing, boating (including
house boating, kayaking and canoeing) you should consider a visit to the
Lake Mead National Recreation Area. The shores of the Lake Mead and Lake
Mohave offer stunning views and include over a million and a half
acres of recreational area.
During the last decade, the Southwest of the US has experienced a
significant drought. In addition, the outflow of water from the lakes to
downstream states has continued to exceed the inflow. As a consequence, the
water level has dropped over eighty feet since 2000. Stop in the Lake Mead
Visitor Center, also called the Alan Bible Visitor Center, located off of
U.S. 93, four miles southeast of Boulder City, to check on current
conditions and the status of the Lake’s marinas.
Although hiking is popular, the Recreational Area is best known for its
water sports. Remember that this is desert area and it can be torrid in
summer. Visit Lake Mead in spring or early autumn for pleasant temperatures.
See the National Park Service pages on Lake Mead for specifics on visiting.
http://www.nps.gov/lame/
.
One of the standby daytrips for
visitors to Las Vegas is a tour of Hoover Dam and Power Plant. Over a
million people take the tour and even more drive across the dam, which
blocks the Colorado at the Black Canyon. The dam is located 30 miles
southeast of Las Vegas on US Highway 93 at the Nevada-Arizona border. There
is a modest parking fee and an additional fee of $11.00 for the tour. The
attraction is quite popular (open between 9 and 5) especially in summer and
tour times between 9AM and 10 are the least crowded.
There are restrictions on the types of vehicles that can cross the dam.
For information on these restrictions, the tour and other aspects of Hoover
Dam, see the official web site at
http://www.usbr.gov/lc/hooverdam/service/index.html .
Also, pets are not allowed at Hoover Dam.
The Red Rock Canyon National Conservation area lies just at the western edge
of Las Vegas and is a great place for afternoon out of the casinos and off
the Strip. Red Rock Canyon is perfectly named as it is a large, beautiful
canyon area with cliffs covered with an amazing variety of reddish hues. The
Conservation area hosts over a million visitors a year who are attracted to
this natural wonderland of petrified sand dunes. Be sure to bring water and
good hiking shoes if you want to hike around the park. Just driving through
can be great fun, but to really explore the area, you need to do some
walking. The Visitor Center is informative and it's where you should start
your exploration of the park. See the Red Rock Canyon official web site for
more information
http://www.nv.blm.gov/redrockcanyon/.
Red Rock Canyon National Conservation area is open from sunrise to sunset (6
a.m. to 5 p.m. in winter and later in spring summer and fall) Red Rock
Canyon National Conservation area is approximately 17 miles west of the
strip. You can get there by following on Charleston Boulevard to the edge of
town. Stay on Highway 159 (Blue Diamond Road) until you come to the park
entrance. (There is a modest entrance fee.)
The Valley of Fire State Park is a gorgeous example of desert sandstone,
rugged cliffs and the complex landscapes that can form in arid environments.
As in Red Rock Canyon, the landscape in this area derived from the
solidification of sand dunes that existed over 150 million years ago.
Earthquakes, crustal movements and erosion have interacted with the various
rock types at Valley of the fire to produce a an unusual landscape that is
colorful, beautiful and dramatic. The park is approximately an hour from Las
Vegas (55 miles- near Overton, NV) at exit 75 on I-15. Sections of the
Park’s roads are rough and may not be appropriate for some low-slung cars
(say, a Corvette) The best time to visit is autumn and spring. Winters can
be cool and sometimes damp, while summers broil.
There is a modest admission fee. The best place to start your tour is at
the Park's Information Center. Be sure to bring plenty of water and
wear good hiking shoes, as the trails are the best ways to see the real
beauty of the park. There are a number of areas that display authentic
petroglyphs (rock art from the Anasazi and other early visitors to the
area). Details on visiting can be found at the parks official web site
http://parks.nv.gov/vf.htm
.
The Grand Canyon is a little out the way for a land tour from Las Vegas.
Although you can reach the North Rim after a long drive, the best panoramic
views of the Grand Canyon can be seen only from its South Rim, which is a
day's drive away.
Not to worry. A number of companies provide tours of the Grand
Canyon from either helicopters or fixed- wing aircraft. Seeing the
Grand Canyon from the air is a magnificent experience. Details that you
cannot see from either the North or the South Rim seem to pop-out when you
are flying above the area. If you have time and are in the mood for an
extra-special treat, a helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon is an
incomparable way to experience the world-famous icon.
Although not quite a daytrip, those of you with an interest in history
may find a trip to the Atomic Testing Museum to be an interesting adventure. As many of
you know, in the 1950s and 1960s visitors to Las Vegas could often seen (and
feel) the atomic bomb tests held at the Nevada Test Site and the
museum has provides an exhaustive history of the Nevada testing, as well as
the the "Cold War" that marked the beginning of the nuclear age. We
recommend this compact, but informative museum as one of the leading
attractions in Las Vegas. See
the museum's official
website for more details on its
displays and programs.
Click any section of the circle below for our page containing that
information. The segment shown in gold indicates the section of the
guide you are viewing.
If you need information about another travel destination, try our
Destination Guide Index
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Lake Mead photographs courtesy of U.S. Department of the
Interior
Las Vegas
Lake Mead photographs courtesy of U.S. Department of the
Interior
Hoover Dam Photograph courtesy of the U.S. Department of the
Interior
