One has imported palm trees, the other has tall Ponderosa pines and aspens that glow gold in the fall. The towering glass-and-steel hotels are replaced by cabins made of rough-hewn logs and in an instant, your blood pressure drops. About of these were atmospheric tests that resulted in mushroom clouds that could be seen from Las Vegas. The area historically receives about inches of snow each season, with temperatures about 30 to 40 degrees lower than those in the valley.
The very popular restaurant has a rustic A-frame design with full windows on three sides that allow guests to enjoy the view while perusing the large menu. An expansive porch wraps around the exterior to allow for outdoor dining, and a central fireplace adds to the coziness.
You will also likely find authentic Native American jewelry and goods crafted by local artisans for sale. Of course, since Mount Charleson is only an hour from Las Vegas, you could also head back to Las Vegas in time for your dinner reservation on the Strip. The Valley of Fire is named for the color of the million-year-old Aztec Red sandstone that comprises a lot of the park.
Also, there are restrooms and a small store selling snacks and souvenirs. Make sure you leave the visitor center with a map, a plan and water. Lots of water. Related: 10 things no one tells you about Las Vegas. Valley of Fire State Park can be thoroughly enjoyed from the car using the excellent Scenic Loop Road that curves its way through the rock formations. Here, rock etchings created by inhabitants from 2, years ago are visible on the sides of this short canyon.
The canyon floor is covered with a loose, fine, deep sand that will easily make its way into your shoes and boots. Another easy stop is Rainbow Vista, a colorful, panoramic landscape that seems to change hue with the movement of the sun.
One of our favorites is the one-mile, round-trip hike to the Fire Wave. A relatively flat and easy trek leads you to undulating sandstone formations enhanced by swirling ribbons of contrasting color. White Domes is a crowd favorite.
The mile-and-a-half-long trail leads you down past remnants of an old movie set and through a short but impressive slot canyon before looping back toward the parking area.
The landscape is peppered with towering rock formations that look especially resplendent against the darker colors of the nearby desert rocks. You climb about four stories of metal stairs to get a close-up look of the carvings that are highlighted by images of the Atlatl — an ancient hunting weapon. The Valley of Fire offers history and hills ablaze. There are petroglyphs and petrified logs; arches and ancient art; balanced rocks and bighorn sheep.
Where to stay: As with Mount Charleston, you could easily make a day trip from Las Vegas to the Valley of Fire State Park, but there are options if you want to spend the night. There is camping available within the state park. You can also choose among some budget hotels, such as the North Shore Inn at Lake Mead, about 12 miles away. Related: Review of the Bellagio Las Vegas. What to do: The things to do in Death Valley are to absorb the unusual, value the uniqueness, respect the environment and simply survive.
Death Valley is different, beautiful in its own way and extreme. Another full-day drive destination would be Death Valley National Park.
Overall, this is not a good choice for summertime. During October-April, conditions are more tolerable and if you have an entire free day in Las Vegas, you definitely can make it to Death Valley, take in some of the sights and be back by evening. Check their website and plan ahead. Up for a longer drive? Just under three hours of driving time will get you to one of the most beautiful places in the US: Zion National Park. People often ask me about visiting the Grand Canyon while staying Las in Vegas.
Worth it? I think not. If you absolutely have to check the Grand Canyon off your personal Bucket List and this is your only chance, go ahead.
I would suggest looking into staying the night at Grand Canyon Village, to have some more time there, seeing the sunset and sunrise. Otherwise, you may want to look into an airplane or helicopter tour. Just click on the icon in the left upper corner to see what each marker stands for. Las Vegas is close to many beautiful places in Nevada, Arizona, and Utah. Even if you love Vegas, make the most of your stay in the city by taking a day — or even half a day — for a taste of something different.
And as always, let me know what you think by leaving me a comment! Road tripping is fun! You may want to take a look at my 37 road tripping tips too. They are based on over a year and a half of touring the US by car, including driving from California to Alaska and back! Also, while in the southwest, check out my Arizona Bucket List for other nearby destinations or just driving from Las Vegas for more than a day.
To me…the beauty is all around, no matter which part you go to. You can make it a day trip to the West Rim…and the kids enjoyed it. Thanks for the article!! Hi Tita, We always prefer national parks, and in this case, this means you need to get to the South Rim. You have a visitor center there, plenty of viewing points, ranger activities and lodges. What you could do is aim to spend the night there, and that way you get both sunset and sunrise in the Grand Canyon.
If you only have a couple of days for the visit, I would include the Route 66 historic section between Seligman and Oatman leave some time to explore both locations as well, so hours in total.
Williams is another great stop on the way, for some local atmosphere. Spend hours there and then drive on to Page, AZ. If you have a couple of days more to spare, I would work Zion National Park into that itinerary too. Enjoy the drive, Tiana! Zion is actually an entire National Park, unique for its canyon — but there are mountains around the canyon!
Red rock canyon is a nice drivable route with option to get out of the car, or not. Hoover dam is nice and not to hard to access for people that have accessibly issues. This is a great list and allows you to see many things besides the lights, and life of Las Vegas. We will be in Vegas in October. Not physical, outdoor type people and only have 1 day to explore outside the city.
Depending on how much driving you want to do, you can drive down to Oatman and Seligman for a taste of Route 66 and maybe visit Nelson Ghost town en route too. For a shorter time, how about Hoover Dam and Lake Mead?
We are doing road trips from Vegas and noted the hiking tips however we are 78 and 80 and hiking is not an viable option.
Any guesses what it is?! Danny is going to be hosting this show and showing you some of the wildest rides in the world. Any guesses on what is special about this truck? Vegas Rat Rods aired on the Discovery channel beginning in and quickly became a favorite of car fans.
The show followed Steve Darnell and his team as they created motorized works of art for their clients. Fans can check out the one-of-a-kind creations at the WelderUp showroom on their next trip to Las Vegas.
Self-guided tours are available daily. Have you checked out any of these car attractions? What about the driving experience? Are you looking for other fast ways to get around Las Vegas? Unless you have a classic car to enjoy traffic in, get Monorail tickets to make traveling the Strip a breeze! If you live in Las Vegas or visiting Sin City and want to explore beyond the Strip, there is a huge number of road trip options available.
Whether you want to explore the desert, see giant sequoias, spend time in California's biggest cities or relax on a beach, our list of the 21 best road trips from Las Vegas will have you covered. The following list starts with the closest to Las Vegas and moves on to longer drives further down the list so scroll down depending on how far you're prepared to go!
Just outside Las Vegas and only a 45 minute drive from the Strip is the ghost town of Nelson. The ghost town was a disused old mining town before the current owners moved in over 25 years ago. The ghost town elements were retained and a little enhanced to make it more interesting and today you can visit the ghost town to see what it's all about.
There's lots and lots of half-rusted old cars which is both really interesting and mighty frustrating if you're a big fan of cars like me. Other props include rattle snakes in a freezer and crashed airplanes. Not all of it is completely authentic But that doesn't really matter - you're here to walk around and take some amazing photos. Take a lot of care while walking around - rattle snakes are common so watch out and report any you see to the guides.
Tours down the gold mine take place at 9 a. The tours will take you through the richest mine in Nevada that operated for almost 80 years and closed as World War II broke out. Bring another layer with you - the tour can take over an hour and it can feel a little cool inside the mine.
Follow the I north from Las Vegas for half an hour and follow the turning onto the Valley of Fire Highway which will take you into the park. The unique mix of rocks, layered colors and amazing hiking routes is the oldest State Park in Nevada, being first designated back in after opening the year before. The park was home to ancient Ancestral Puebloan tribes and you can find petroglyphs wall drawings that are thousands of years old in the park.
As with other deserts near Las Vegas, temperatures in the summer get very hot. Bring lots of water if you're planning to visit in the summer but March to April and October to November are much better when the weather is mild making it much more pleasant.
For those who want to get out of Las Vegas but don't want to go far, the closest place to go is the Hoover Dam. It's in at 3 in the list because visiting the Dam and the nearby Lake Mead requires some local driving but you won't have to go too far. The Hoover Dam is a world famous installation that helps Vegas have water and electricity supplies despite the city being located in the middle of one of the driest deserts in the world.
Built during the Great Depression, Hoover Dam was much bigger than any dam ever built before it and Lake Mead continues to be the largest water reservoir in the United States today. Talking of Lake Mead, it's not just there to turn the turbines of the dam. You can go on a cruise around the lake, hire a boat or relax on Boulder Beach. In the afternoon, you can take a drive along Northshore Road - it starts just outside Henderson and goes for over 50 miles towards the Valley of Fire State Park 2 above.
It's a great drive with scenic places to stop along the way and you can combine a visit to the Valley of Fire with Lake Mead for a great although long day road trip out of Las Vegas. Las Vegas sits in the middle of the Mojave desert with parts of the driest part of North America spanning corners of California, Nevada, Utah and Arizona.
Although a lot of the Mojave National Preserve is rocky desert, there's a few interesting parts to explore. The term forest is a little generous here as the trees are quite spread out and you won't find birds singing in the branches or creatures living in the undergrowth, but this is the most dense area for Joshua trees anywhere and you'll see more here than in the Joshua Tree National Park!
The Mojave Desert Lava Tube is further west and you'll need a reasonable SUV or car capable of going offroad to navigage several miles of dirt track to get here. The Lava Tube is a series of rooms underneath the surface of the desert that feel like caves - they were created when molten lava made its way through the ground creating the unique space.
Make sure you stop at the Castle Mountains National Monument. Again - you'll need something with 4-wheel drive and decent tires to get here, but sitting right on the edge of the preserve, this is one of the prettiest parts with a little more in terms of plants and wildlife to see. If spending a few days in the hottest place on Earth and some of the least hospitable environments anywhere on the planet sounds like fun, the Death Valley National Park is less than 2 hours away from Las Vegas.
If you thought Vegas was too hot in the summer, the average yes I'd pick one of the other 20 entries on this list if you're looking for a road trip in the middle of the summer. If you come from November to March, the weather is much more mild and you'll have a much better trip exploring the varying landscapes that Death Valley has to offer. There are dried out salt flats from where lakes and seas once covered the valley, there's rocky sections with mountains and even sand dunes.
This means there's no artificial light anywhere within the park at night and if you're camping on a clear day, the view of the stars above is phenomenal. Like many lakes in southwestern United States, the lake is an artificially created reservoir after the Colorado River flowing through the local valley was dammed by the Parker Dam in the s.
0コメント