Zion National Park and other Las Vegas, NV Off The Beaten Path Tips

Located only 158 miles from Las Vegas is the beautiful Zion National Park. You could make a day trip out of it, but I would stay overnight in nearby Springdale so that you have enough time to drive the scenic Hwy 9 through the 1 mile tunnel to the eastern section of the park. There are also many excellent hikes, most of them paved and easily accessible for all members of the family. See my Zion pages for more photos and info.

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Website: www.nps.gov/zion/

Only a 60 mile drive east from Las Vegas along the I15 to hwy 169 south will bring you to a wonderful desert getaway. We arrived late in the afternoon to see the unusual rock formations glow like fire. There were many short but sandy walking paths, and alot of shaded picnic tables. It looked like a great place to bring a bottle of wine and snacks to enjoy while watching the sun set.

Admission is $6/vehicle and the park is open from dawn til dusk, the visitor centre is open daily from 830am to 430pm.

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Website: http://www.desertusa.com/nvval/

It is a fun drive through Valley of the Fire State Park along its twisting, turning road. You will go right, left, up and down as you travel through this interesting rocky landscape.

Plan your visit for late afternoon to see the red rocks glow from the setting sun.

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Website: http://www.desertusa.com/nvval/

The colossal Hoover Dam was completed in 1935 giving this desert region and Las Vegas a reliable water supply from the Colorado River and inexpensive electricity to boot.

It is a very impressive structure and definitely worth a visit if you are heading eastward to the Grand Canyon. You can take a $10 tour of the facilities (print your own discount coupon from the website for $1 off) or you can just walk over the dam and view it from both the Nevada and Arizona sides of the canyon.

Here's another money saving tip: park your car on the Arizona side, there is plenty of free parking here and you will enjoy the views as you walk across the dam to the visitor's centre. Parking on the Nevada side is $5.

Notice in the photo how low the water level is. Apparantly it is 50 feet lower than it should be due to an eight year drought in the region. The dam has lost 40% of its generating power because of this.

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Website: www.hooverdam.usbr.com

Thanks to the Hoover Dam, the waters of the Colorado River filled the deep canyons which used to tower above it and created Lake Mead.

Today the lake is a popular spot for boating, fishing, waterskiing and sailing. There are also many campgrounds and marinas in the area.

We encountered this marvelous viewpoint near Boulder City en route to Hoover Dam.

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Website: www.nps.gov/lame