Entertainment abounds in Las Vegas. There is no shortage of options for what to do, and, for the most part, little or no limitation on when you can do what you want to do. Everyone knows of the traditional trappings Las Vegas offers, and even some sightseeing trips to places like the Hoover Dam or Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. But there are only so many times you can take the guided tour of the dam—even the extended hard hat tour—or drive the 13-mile loop through Red Rock before it starts to get a little tired. It might be a great way to spend an afternoon when hosting visitors from out of town, but it’s old hat once you’ve done it a couple of times, and it’s not likely to pull anyone away from the couch on a Sunday afternoon.

In Southeast Nevada, outdoor recreation opportunities range from safe-and-sane to extreme and possibly dangerous. Hiking a one- or two-mile trail at Red Rock or Valley of Fire falls into the first category, making your own trail while scuttling the boulders and mountains falls somewhere in the middle and jumping out of an airplane 20,000 feet above the desert floor fits somewhere toward the latter.

Believe it or not, many people come to Las Vegas just for the opportunity to do these kinds of things. With the largest collection of hotel rooms in the Southwest, Las Vegas really is a gateway to great outdoor adventures. And while you can take a trip to change the scenery, the best of what the West has to offer is never far away.

Safety First
Different people have different expectations from their outdoor adventures. While some people are looking for an adrenaline rush, others are just looking for an opportunity to take in some of the sights, maybe snap off a few frames and then call it a day. It may not be the most exciting, but it can be relaxing and certainly beats a day spent sitting on the couch, even during football season.

Two of the most well-known outdoor recreation areas outside of Las Vegas are Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area and Valley of Fire State Park. Both of these areas allow you to choose your own adventure. You can take in the sights from the seated and climate-controlled comfort of your vehicle, or you can take the self-guided, shoe leather express tour of the area.

At the entrance to both parks where you have to pay a $5 admission fee (insider’s tip: on most days, after 4 p.m., the entrance booth to Red Rock is unmanned and you can enter the park for free), you will be given a map of the area. It will point out scenic vistas, car pullouts and trail heads. You’ll also find a brief description of the trails themselves, including distance and difficulty. You don’t have to stick to the trails, either. You can meander and wander around amidst the beautiful rock formations in any direction you desire.

If you don’t want to do the driving yourself, there are a number of guided tours that run through these areas. Several companies will take you to these parks in a Hummer, which allows you access to off-road destinations most passenger vehicles can’t get to (at Red Rock, there is a location named Jeep Trap Canyon, that spells disaster for vehicles like Jeeps with a smaller wheel base than a Hummer). The tours range from 2.5 to four hours and cost around $130.

From November through May, you can get a unique and serene view of the Las Vegas Valley from a hot air balloon. Both Nevada High Inc. (702-873-8393) and Ultimate Balloon Adventure (702-838-6050) offer this service.

Stuck in the Middle
Those seeking a little more excitement than a simple sightseeing trip, but who still want to remain relatively safe, have a number of options from which to choose. From rock climbing to kayaking to landsailing, there is no shortage of excitement or relative safety.

Recreation at Red Rock isn’t limited to flat-footed ground-pounders. A more exciting way to enjoy the park involves scaling the sheer sandstone cliffs throughout the park. It offers a new way to see not only the formations in the area, but, depending on where you climb, you might get an entirely different perspective of the entire Las Vegas area. Desert Odyssey Tours (1-800-218-4942) will design custom tours through Red Rock, as well as other destinations in Southern Utah.

Another popular adventure that is relatively safe takes advantage of the most important natural resource in the area, the Colorado River. Why stand on the beach looking out when you can be sitting in the middle of Lake Mead looking back at the shore? You can also get an entirely new perspective of the Hoover Dam and the lower stretches of the cliff-lined Colorado River, depending on what you want to do. There are a number of outfitters who offer kayak tours of the area, and plenty of different tours available.

Desert Adventures (702-293-5026) runs a monthly moonlight paddle on Lake Mead. This is a beginner-friendly trip that begins at sundown. After paddling out to the Boulder Islands, you are free to do your own thing.        

Explore the beaches and coves of the islands, or just lay out on a blanket and look at the stars. The trip runs from about 5 p.m. to 11 p.m., depending on the time of sunset and moonrise, and costs $69 per person.

Evolution Expeditions (702-259-5292) runs tours below Hoover Dam, from the shorter, five-hour Hemenway Tour to the nine-hour Anasazi Tour, which begins with a 7:30 a.m. hike from the White Rock Canyon Trailhead to the shores of the Colorado River.
 
Land sailing is another adventure that is popular in Las Vegas. The winds that prevent other activities like hot air balloon rides make this activity more exciting.

Landsailing Tours (1-877-770-7245) and All Las Vegas Tours (702-233-1627) offer a number of adventures depending on how much time you want to spend. There is a four-hour, half-day tour at the Ivanpah Dry Lake playa and an eight-hour tour near Area 51. Because so many people are drawn to the excitement of whipping through the open desert driven only by the winds, it is recommended that tours be booked in advance (you can also try calling and hope for a cancellation). Prices range from about $120 for the shorter tour to $200 (including transportation) for the Area 51 tour.

Leap of Faith
For those who have participated before, the outdoor adventure sports that carry the risk of severe injury and death are not so scary. For the uninitiated, anticipatory dread can be immobilizing.

It is normal to have such fears, and perhaps it suggests a certain sanity that should be commended. After all, jumping out of a perfectly good airplane or leaping off of a cliff attached to what amounts to little more than a kite are not the activities of a sane person, right?

Right.

And that is why these things are so exciting. The element of danger, small as it may be, and the illusion of skirting death gets the adrenaline flowing and the heart pumping. It is exciting for some people to stare danger in the face. Are you that kind of person? There is only one way to find out.

The parachute idea has been around for a long time, and thanks to its usefulness to the military, the technology has been studied and improved upon. Current figures show that out of the approximately 2 million jumps in the United States every year, only 30 people die in skydiving accidents. Injuries from the landing are more common, but even those are relatively rare.

Skydive Las Vegas offers two different jumps: one from three miles and another from one mile. Prices range from $150 to $250 depending on jump height and the time of the year. For the timid who just want to come along for the ride, if room permits, it is only $50 to ride in the plane and watch the other people jump. For more information, call Skydive Las Vegas at 702-759-3483.

Paragliding and hang gliding are additional ways to taunt the Reaper, only instead of jumping out of an airplane, you hike a good trail to a cliff face, and rather than hike down, you jump off attached to a hybrid parachute/glider/kite. Obviously you’re not as high, so the view isn’t quite the same, but an experienced guide can keep you floating for what will feel like hours by riding the thermals that rise from the desert floor. On your first trip, you’ll go up in tandem with an experienced instructor to ensure safety. Las Vegas Hang Gliding offers these trips for $189, although off-peak discounts might be available. Call 1-800-615-9086 for more information.

While not exactly an outdoor adventure, if you want most of the experience of skydiving without any of the risk, you can always try Vegas Indoor Skydiving (702-731-4768). You’ll basically be placed in a giant wind tunnel, facing the business end of a turbine pushing the air out at upwards of 100 mph.

It’ll hold you in the air, and you’ll have that classic skydiving look on your face, but if there is any serious failure here, you don’t crash into the ground at terminal velocity. It’s not the real thing by any means, but it can make a good first run for the unsure, and a good alternative for the more risk-averse.

By Greg Jones

Greg Jones is managing editor of Casino Connection Nevada, as well as associate editor of Global Gaming Business magazine.

Please login to post your comments.

More Featured Articles