parks and recreation

Here are 10 diverse, scenic places to take the family and explore Southern Nevada.

By REBECCA THEIM | January/February 2011

Although known worldwide for the Las Vegas Strip, Southern Nevada is also a recreational and outdoor mecca, offering everything from encounters with our prehistoric past to the opportunity to scale lofty mountains.

These 10 geological and recreational gems are all within a 90-minute drive of Las Vegas and promise a different kind of indulgence for Nevada visitors.

 

VALLEY OF FIRE
STATE PARK

Visitors traveling from Las Vegas via Interstate 15, Exit 75 shouldn’t let the inauspicious southwest border of Valley of Fire State Park fool them. The modest sign that marks the boundary of the more than 40,000-acre state park—Nevada’s biggest and oldest—belies the raw beauty and encounters with the dinosaur age that visitors experience as they travel among the park’s notable geologic and prehistoric features.

Named for its red sandstone formations that often appear to be on fire when reflecting Nevada’s incessantly shining sun, the park’s prominent attributes include petrified logs that washed into the area an estimated 225 million years ago and Mouse’s Tank, a natural basin named for the renegade Paiute who used the area as a hideout in the 1890s. “I’ll never forget how the landscape transformed as darkness fell,” says Henderson resident George Molnar, who recently spent a day at the park with his family. “It’s truly a stunning place that’s only 55 miles—yet literally worlds away—from Las Vegas.”

Visitors with interest in more contemporary events will appreciate the park’s role in pop culture: Valley of Fire has been the backdrop for a number of notable movie scenes, including the site of Captain Kirk’s death in “Star Trek Generations.”

CONTACT

Valley of Fire State Park
29450 Valley of Fire Rd., Overton
parks.nv.gov/vf.htm
702-397-2088

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LAKE MEAD NATIONAL RECREATION AREA

When native New Zealander Melina Laredo traveled from her Chicago home to Southern Nevada to compete in her first Ironman-distance triathlon, the annual Silverman Triathlon, she didn’t expect the natural splendor she would encounter during the 112-mile cycling portion of the endeavor. Her journey along the western edge of the 1.5-million-acre Lake Mead National Recreation Area and its Las Vegas Bay included more than 9,000 feet of climbing and elevations ranging from 1,200 to 2,400 feet. “I was on the bike for eight hours, but I didn’t know it until the eighth hour because the whole ride was so amazing and beautiful,” Laredo says. “It’s something you can’t get anywhere else. This was another type of magnificent.”

Besides endurance competitions, the recreation area offers hiking, camping, boating, and water sports. Photo: Kevin Dyer

CONTACT

Lake Mead National Recreation Area
601 Nevada Way, Boulder City
nps.gov/lake
702-293-8990

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RED ROCK CANYON NATIONAL CONSERVATION AREA

With its Yosemite-sized walls, the 197,000-acre Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area—located in the heart of the Mojave Desert—is known for its abundant and geologically beautiful hikes and rock climbs.

The area’s nearly 20 trails take hikers through a maze of canyons, peaks, ledges, chimneys, chutes, and gullies.

La Madre Mountain, containing the park’s highest peak at 8,154 feet, is part of a massive wall of rock alternately referred to as Wilson Cliffs or Keystone Thrust, which attracts rock climbers from around the world. One such climber is Bill Ramsey, who moved from Indiana to Las Vegas so he could climb year round. “Las Vegas is the only place I can think of where you can do extremely difficult rock climbs all year,” Ramsey says. “I love the craziness of Las Vegas—how you can have these amazing urban lifestyle experiences, but then drive 25 minutes and be in an area as remote and primitive as any place in the country.”

Red Rock Canyon offers a 13-mile scenic byway, also a challenging and popular cycling loop, with breathtaking views as it gains 1,000 feet in elevation, almost all in the first five miles. The area also provides one developed campsite with year-round facilities.

CONTACT

Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area
4701 N. Torrey Pines Dr., Las Vegas
nv.blm.gov/redrockcanyon
702-515-5000

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SPRING MOUNTAIN RANCH STATE PARK

Located within Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, Spring Mountain Ranch was once a haven valued for the many springs that flowed into the area. That water supply in the blazing-hot Mojave attracted Paiutes, mountain men, and early settlers alike. The 520-acre tract was developed into a combination working ranch and luxury retreat owned by a string of notable individuals, including millionaire Howard Hughes.

Even before construction of the ranch, its natural assets had a long and colorful history. The wash that runs through the ranch became an alternate route to the Old Spanish Trail in the 1830s and attracted pack and wagon trains until the arrival of the railroad in 1905. American Indian slave traders, horse thieves, and bandits preying on passing caravans also used the secluded trail extensively.

Modern visitors may tour the original main ranch house and take guided excursions throughout the historic area. Photo: Mike Gallagher

CONTACT

Spring Mountain Ranch State Park
P.O. Box 124, Blue Diamond, NV 89004
parks.nv.gov/smr.htm
702-875-4141

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OLD LAS VEGAS MORMON STATE HISTORIC PARK

A group of more than 30 Mormons arrived at the future site of the Las Vegas Mission in June 1855, after being called on by Brigham Young to establish a way station for pioneers traveling between Salt Lake City and the Pacific Coast. The settlers built an adobe fort along Las Vegas Creek and successfully farmed the area. Their efforts to convert the local Paiutes were less successful. After the mission failed two years later, the Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort had an eclectic life, serving briefly as a military outpost, ranch, resort, and cement-testing facility for the construction of Hoover Dam.

It came alive again in June 2005 as descendants of the original Utah pioneers congregated at the fort to commemorate the 150th anniversary of its opening. “It’s the oldest building in town and the birthplace of Las Vegas,” says Jason Coffey, president of the Southern Nevada Living History Association, which participates in the fort’s annual Settlement Day parade and holds monthly reenactments of the 1867-69 occupation of the fort by Company D of the 9th U.S. Infantry.

Located near downtown Las Vegas, the fort complex includes a visitor center, full-size reconstruction of the original structure, and the last remaining wall of the original fort.

CONTACT

Old Las Vegas Mormon State Historic Park
500 E. Washington Ave., Las Vegas
parks.nv.gov/olvmf.htm
702-486-3511

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BIG BEND OF THE COLORADO RIVER STATE RECREATION AREA

Big Bend State Recreation Area is five miles south of Laughlin on the Needles Highway. Big Bend, which opened in 1996 and is Nevada’s newest state park, is on the shore of the Colorado River near Nevada’s southern tip. The park offers dramatic views of the river and surrounding mountains, camping, hiking, and group facilities. In 2009, about four miles of hiking trails were added throughout the park.

Other popular activities at Big Bend include picnicking, boating, fishing, and swimming.—parksnv.gov

CONTACT

Big Bend of the Colorado River State Recreation Area
P.O. Box 32850, Laughlin, NV 89028
parks.nv.gov/bb.htm
702-298-1859

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MOUNT CHARLESTON WILDERNESS

The 57,442-acre Mount Charleston Wilderness area extends across the highest elevations of Southern Nevada’s Spring Mountains range, including the magnificent 11,918-foot Charleston Peak, which is visible from much of the Las Vegas Valley.

The wilderness area’s high country offers some of the only natural relief from the scorching Mojave summer heat. Short, steep-walled canyons dot the range, which is covered by 18,000 acres of Western bristlecone pine, the largest such stand in the world.

The varying altitudes support a wide range of habitat, geology, and microclimates and sustain several endemic plant communities found nowhere else on earth.

Some 40 miles of trails offer strenuous, but beautiful, hiking. “The Bristlecone Trail is remarkable for its flora—the bristlecone pines ooze with sap and are wonderfully colorful,” says avid Mount Charleston hiker Jack Pate. The area is also home to Raintree, one of the oldest trees in North America.

CONTACT

Mount Charleston Wilderness
4701 N. Torrey Pines Dr., Las Vegas
fs.fed.us
702-515-5400

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DESERT NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE

The Desert National Wildlife Refuge was established in May 1936 and is the largest national wildlife refuge in the continental United States. Encompassing 1.5 million acres of the Mojave, it contains six major mountain ranges, the highest rising from 2,500-foot valleys to nearly 10,000 feet. One of the refuge’s main purposes is to create and improve a perpetuating habitat for desert bighorn sheep.

Visitors enjoy camping, hiking, backpacking, horseback riding, and bird watching. The Corn Creek Field Station, about 23 miles northwest of Las Vegas, is the major entrance to the range, accessible via a four-mile gravel road off U.S. Highway 95.

Because of the expansiveness and remote nature of much of the range, visitors are advised to fill their gas tanks, ensure proper working order of their vehicles, bring sufficient water, and notify someone of their travel plans. The Refuge Visitor Contact Station is open Fridays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., Labor Day through Memorial Day. Photo: Mark Petterson

CONTACT

Desert National Wildlife Refuge
fws.gov/refuges
702-879-6110

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MOAPA VALLEY NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE

Dwarfed in size by many of Nevada’s parks and refuges, the 117-acre Moapa Valley National Wildlife Refuge is among the state’s youngest. In 1979, its five natural thermal springs and Muddy River system became the foundation of the first secure habitat in the federal wildlife refuge system for an endangered fish: the Moapa dace, found nowhere else in the world. “I love the mission and vision of why it was established: to conserve an endangered species,” says Refuge Manager Amy Lavoie. “A healthy ecosystem typically equates to good water quality, so the health of this fish can also be beneficial to humans.”

Some Las Vegans fondly remember the Desert Oasis Warm Springs Resort, which operated from the 1970s until a wildfire destroyed it in 1994. What many people don’t realize, Lavoie says, is how detrimental the concrete hot tubs and swimming pools that captured the thermal spring waters were to the environment. One of the first things the Fish and Wildlife Service did when it acquired the property was remove the concrete.

Because of its small size, fragile habitats, and ongoing restoration work, the refuge, located about 60 miles northeast of Las Vegas, is only open Saturdays and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Labor Day through Memorial Day.

CONTACT

Moapa Valley National Wildlife Refuge
fws.gov/refuges
702-879-6110

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TULE SPRINGS ICE AGE PARK/FLOYD LAMB PARK

Located in the northern part of the Las Vegas Valley, Tule Springs is nationally recognized as an ice-age mammoth fossil site that two industrious groups of Las Vegans continue to work to preserve as a public national monument.

Tule Springs first came to national prominence almost 50 years ago, when National Geographic documented a four-month “Big Dig” study there. The dig cataloged thousands of prehistoric fossils, including the Columbian Mammoth, American Lion, ancient species of horse, and Camelops, an extinct species of camels that once roamed western North America. The site was largely forgotten until suburban growth began extending to the Upper Las Vegas Wash, resulting in several studies commissioned by various governmental agencies.

Those studies documented literally hundreds of surface fossil sites. In spring 2009, the area’s prehistoric significance was again confirmed when a small team of scientists evaluated its potential as a national monument. The nonprofit Protectors of Tule Springs and Las Vegas Ice Age Park Foundation last year secured the support of a half-dozen government, tribal, and conservation groups and seemed on the verge of securing 23,000 acres, which includes a 316-acre state-owned site, as a national monument in the heart of the wash.

However, Nevada Energy entered the fray last summer, seeking a power line right of way, further delaying the project, Protectors of Tule Springs founder Jill DeStefano says. “It’s amazing that right on the edge of Las Vegas we have this major prehistoric site,” DeStefano continues, adding that her group believes the issue with Nevada Energy is close to being resolved. “People go out there now and run all over it with their ATVs. We need to keep it safe and protected.”

According to vegas.com, nearby Floyd Lamb Park has four stocked ponds, picnic areas, barbecues, scenic paths, and volleyball and horseshoe facilities on 2,040 acres northwest of Las Vegas. After three decades as a state park, the City of Las Vegas now operates the site.

CONTACTS

Tule Springs Ice Age Park
2905 Willow Wren Dr., North Las Vegas
tulespringslv.com
702-807-9402

Floyd Lamb Park
9200 Tule Springs Rd., Las Vegas
702-229-6297