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Ryan Jerz photo
Travel Nevada
Hoover Dam - Colorado River view. From the center of Hoover Dam at the Nevada-Arizona border, this view shows the Colorado River and the new bypass bridge that is under construction.
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Photos courtesy Travel Nevada
Travel Nevada
Heavenly Mountain Ski Resort
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Photos courtesy of Travel Nevada
Travel Nevada
Kayaking at Lake Mead
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Photos courtesy of Travel Nevada
Travel Nevada
Valley of Fire
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Photos courtesy of Travel Nevada
Travel Nevada
Valley of Fire
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Photos courtesy of Travel Nevada
Travel Nevada
View of Lake Mead from inside a cave
By Trevor Pancoust, photos courtesy Travel Nevada
5 Amazing Things to Try while Visiting Nevada in 2015
Maybe you’ve been to Las Vegas, but the Silver State is much bigger, and more diverse, than you might think - with hundreds of unexpected experiences to discover. The following shortlist doesn’t even begin to describe the myriad experiences to be found once you venture outside the casinos. Visit even one of them, and you’ll bring back more than just stories from the Strip.
1) Try Skiing a 55-Degree Slope (Mt. Rose-Ski Tahoe, near Reno)
You may think a waterslide is the fastest drop you’ll ever encounter, until you navigate the chutes at Mt. Rose-Ski Tahoe, one of six major ski operations around the rim of Lake Tahoe.
This 3,000 m (9,700 ft) peak has 43 runs including its famous 300 m (1000 ft) long chutes of powder, with 55 degree verticals. It almost feels like skiing straight down!
Both the north and east slopes of Mt. Rose can be accessed by “six pack” high-speed chairs, two quad chairs, and two triple chairs for a total uphill lift capacity of 11,000 skiers every hour.
Mt. Rose is the first resort you encounter on the drive to Lake Tahoe. Not far up the road are the other resorts at Lake Tahoe including the famous Heavenly Mountain Ski Resort straddling the Nevada-California border. Almost all of them are within an hour of Reno.
2) Kayak Forever, Right in the Desert (Lake Mead and Hoover Dam, Las Vegas)
Just 30 minutes from the Vegas strip, Lake Mead feels a million miles away, and you might ask yourself, “what’s with this massive lake right in the middle of the desert?”
The answer is Hoover Dam, which harnesses the Colorado River to provide power and water for Las Vegas. The Lake Mead National Recreation Area covers 1.5 million acres, and offers year-round boating, kayaking, canoeing, swimming, sunbathing and some of the nation’s best sports fishing. In fact, Lake Mead is one of several lakes in the region, with nine developed areas offering visitors a range of accommodations and services on 100 km (700 mi) of shoreline.
This unique landscape is also where three of the four desert ecosystems in the United States meet - the Mojave, the Great Basin and the Sonoran deserts, offering a variety of plants and animals that can’t be found anywhere else in the world.
3) Pay Your Final Respects to Captain Kirk (Valley of Fire State Park, Las Vegas)
When your movie needs an alien planet setting, or maybe you want to film high-performance cars in a stark and challenging proving ground, the Valley of Fire State Park is your choice, because it’s red. Really red.
It’s also the oldest and largest state park in Nevada, just 40 minutes northeast of Las Vegas. Its incredible iron oxide-rich sandstone formations were created when dinosaurs still roamed there. Wandering along the many trails in the 42,000-acre park, you’ll find amazing and ancient Indian petroglyphs, the White Domes, and many other fascinating sights.
With 73 campsites, both day and overnight visitors can enjoy Valley of Fire State Park.
And get your camera ready to take pictures of the cliff where Captain Kirk met his demise in “Star Trek: Generations”. Thousands of sci-fi fans make the pilgrimage each year to see this very spot.
4) Re-live Vintage Vegas: The Mob, the Neon and the Bomb (Las Vegas)
Experience Las Vegas as our parents and grandparents did, when the Rat Pack and big bands ruled the showrooms. See the El Cortez, Golden Gate and other original Vegas hotels on Fremont Street.
Then cruise down Flamingo Road, to the National Atomic Testing Museum, affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution. Back in the 50s, Las Vegans used to take a long lunch – first to eat a sandwich, then to watch a bomb blast! Find out more about the bygone atomic era in southern Nevada from the museum’s 12,000 interactive displays stories and videos.
Next, visit the Neon Museum, explore the Boneyard Park and find an incredible collection of the fabulous signage structures that presided over Las Vegas’ fabled neon era. At the nearby Mob Museum, see and hear the stories of infamous mob bosses including Al Capone, Lucky Luciano, and Bugsy Siegel along with mob busters J. Edgar Hoover and Joe Pistone. The Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas will let you experience the city’s history and see artifacts that illustrate the rise of the casino industry, Native American artifacts and many other natural and cultural exhibits.
5) Drive Highway 50 - The Loneliest Road in America
After being nicknamed “The Loneliest Road in America” by Life Magazine in the 1980s, travellers near and far have flocked to Nevada to experience this ultimate 460 km (287 mi) road trip along the original Pony Express Route.
Running across central Nevada, Highway 50 intersects some of Nevada's most historically interesting towns, 18 mountain ranges, several state parks and a national park.
Despite the name, many amenities are actually available along the way, including gas, food and lodging – but there are long stretches in between, so it’s a good idea to plan ahead and stock up on supplies in cities that have them available. To enhance this ultimate road tripping experience, get your hands on a copy of TravelNevada’s Official Highway 50 Survival Guide, so you can commemorate each stop with a passport-style stamp.