![]() The Cima Dome and the Shadow Valley next to it are home to a forest of Joshua trees. The Death Valley National Park (#5 below) and Joshua Tree National Park (#8) are the two best known places to go and explore the hot and inhospitable Mojave desert, but the less known and less popular Mojave National Preserve is much close to Las Vegas.Īlthough a lot of the Mojave National Preserve is rocky desert, there's a few interesting parts to explore. 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. A trip to the desert - Mojave National Preserveġ hour from Las Vegas (59 miles) The Mojave National Preserve is a varied desert with interesting rock formations and beautiful scenery. 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. 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). You can go on a cruise around the lake, hire a boat or relax on Boulder Beach. Talking of Lake Mead, it's not just there to turn the turbines of the dam. 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.īuilt 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. 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. Visit Lake Mead and see the Hoover Damĥ5 minutes from Las Vegas (39 miles) Lake Mead is close to Las Vegas and a very underrated place to spend a day.įor 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. Average daily highs from June to August are over 100 ☏ (38 ☌).īring 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. 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.Īs with other deserts near Las Vegas, temperatures in the summer get very hot. The unique mix of rocks, layered colors and amazing hiking routes is the oldest State Park in Nevada, being first designated back in 1935 after opening the year before. If you're looking for a day road trip out and want to go into the desert but don't want to make the 2+ hour drive to Death Valley, the Valley of Fire is a great option.įollow the I-15 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 Valley of Fire is a rocky part of the Mojave desert under an hour's drive out of Las Vegas. A short drive to the Valley of Fire State Parkĥ0 minutes from Las Vegas (49 miles) Valley of Fire in Nevada can definitely make you think you're on a different planet. 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.īring another layer with you - the tour can take over an hour and it can feel a little cool inside the mine. as long as there's at least 4 adults (although they may take less in the off-season). Tours down the gold mine take place at 9 a.m., 12 p.m. ![]() Take a lot of care while walking around - rattle snakes are common so watch out and report any you see to the guides. ![]() Not all of it is completely authentic.īut that doesn't really matter - you're here to walk around and take some amazing photos. Other props include rattle snakes in a freezer and crashed airplanes. 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. 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. The ghost town was a disused old mining town before the current owners moved in over 25 years ago. To get here from Las Vegas, head southeast out of the city towards Henderson and keep on going past Boulder City along US-95 and Route 165. Just outside Las Vegas and only a 45 minute drive from the Strip is the ghost town of Nelson. ![]()
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