LEAVE VEGAS IN THE DUST
If you need a quick break from the Strip’s nonstop distractions, Nevada has plenty of natural spaces.
LAS VEGAS — Instead of shiny steel hotel towers, I saw dusty red rock pinnacles towering above me. Dazzling neon signs had disappeared in favor of delicate petroglyphs peeking out between the stones. People ambled along a gravel promenade carrying walking sticks rather than yardstick drinks.
Something strange made my ears perk up. It was silence. I had escaped Las Vegas.
Even as a frequent visitor and fan of the city, I try to make time to get away from the Strip and enjoy some of the phenomenal nature that Nevada has to offer, much of it doable in an easy day’s journey.
Las Vegas escapes provide a roulette wheel’s worth of options, including hiking, biking, ATV-ing, kayaking, house boating and camping. These activities can provide as big or as little of a gamble as a person could want — everything from extreme rock climbing to a mellow stroll down a wide trail to a car-based photo safari.
Otherworldly
Walk just a short way on the trail in Valley of Fire State Park, just an hour’s drive northeast of the Vegas Strip, and you’ll feel as if you’re on another planet. Trails weave through otherworldly sandstone formations of arches, rock towers, strangely striped domes, alien-looking outcroppings and mysterious caves.
The red rocks and dust reveal few signs of life in the 40,000-acre park, making it seem like a Martian landscape. With few people, and not a single chirping bird, the silence was a shock to my system after the clamor of Vegas casinos that I had to shuffle my steps just to make a little comforting noise.
Adding to the park’s air of mystery are strange petroglyphs drawn onto the rocks some 2,000 years ago by local tribes. Along Mouse’s Tank Trail, I spotted some that looked like symbolic communications with an alien race. The park’s visitor center provides a number of displays for those interested in tracing the meaning of the symbols and learning about the area’s geology.
One of the prime photo spots within the park is Rainbow Vista, an iconic Nevada viewpoint overlooking the highway winding into the desert scrub. Sunrises and sunsets are spectacular, but even under the hot noon sun the contrasting colors present a painter’s palette of contrasting colors, textures and lighting. It’s a welcome, wide-open reprieve from somewhat claustrophobic Las Vegas.
Keeping cool
Even when the temperatures heat up in Las Vegas, it doesn’t mean your only options are to retreat to air-conditioned casinos or huddle in a cabana at a hotel pool. Lake Mead, created in the valley behind Hoover Dam, provides nearly 250 square miles of watery playground for boaters, fishers and swimmers, about a 30-minute drive from the Strip.
The Lake Mead National Recreation Area, spanning the Nevada/ Arizona state line, offers sunset cruises, jet skiing, power boating, kayaking, house boating and even an old-time paddle-wheel cruise to view the dam. Three large marinas, operated by independent companies, provide boat and equipment rentals as well as food and shopping facilities.
The more than 550 miles of shoreline create plenty of secluded spots to hop off the boat for a picnic or barbecue. As I motored around the lake, I saw sport fishermen casting lines in quiet shallows and families with toddlers playing in the water.
As I lay on the upper deck of my rented houseboat, the moon rose over rocky cliffs reddened by the setting sun, and the stars came out in a display spectacular enough to rival any light show on the Strip.
Pedal power
When you see residents shoo away bighorn sheep nibbling their rose bushes, you know you’ve reached the border of civilization and the wilderness, about a 45minute drive from the Strip.
Boulder City, created in the Nevada desert for workers during the construction of Hoover Dam in the 1930s, has reinvented itself as a tidy escape-from-Vegas destination with an emphasis on cycling.
The area features an extensive network of mountain biking trails as well as excellent paved bike paths, including one leading to Hoover Dam. A walk around the slow-paced town is a welcome contrast to the Vegas Strip, with a few gift stores and antique shops along the way.
The Historic Railroad Trail was created along the path of the tracks used by trains to deliver workers and supplies from Boulder City to Hoover Dam during construction. The bike path covers about 10 miles, mostly downhill from Boulder City to the dam, which means you must conserve energy for the return ride back.
For reluctant bikers, some rental shops offer electric-motor-assisted bikes, which make the ride a breeze and ease worry about the uphill return.
It’s hard to keep your eyes on the trail with all the views of the landscape and Lake Mead. But given the relaxed nature of the ride, it’s no problem to stop for photos.
The path includes five large railroad tunnels carved out of rock. I felt a little like Wile E. Coyote in a Road Runner cartoon, worried that I was going to run into a train coming the other direction, as the trail abruptly changed from the bright, rocky desert into the dark tunnels.
After the bike ride and other assorted adventures, I figured I had earned a visit to Boulder City’s Boulder Dam Brewing Co. to taste some of its in-house beers, along with a juicy burger and crisp fries.
It was a good conclusion to a weekend escape from Las Vegas, sitting at a table with friends, trading tall tales of mountains conquered, lakes traversed and biking records set — all without a slot machine in sight. travel@latimes.com