ReviewsThings To Do

Two Places You Must Visit

[easy-social-share buttons="facebook,twitter,google,more,pinterest,linkedin,reddit,digg,print,mail" morebutton="1" morebutton_icon="plus" counters=1 counter_pos="hidden" total_counter_pos="leftbig" style="button" nospace="no" facebook_text="Share" twitter_text="Tweet" google_text="Plus" pinterest_text="Pin" linkedin_text="Link" digg_text="Digg" print_text="Print" mail_text="Email" reddit_text="Link" template="metro-retina"]

shutterstock_244293337

One great thing about visiting Las Vegas is that it serves as a great base to travel from when you want a break from the Strip.

There are many day trips that you can complete in one day or less and this is with various and sometimes drastic changes of scenery.

There are two must-do day trips everyone should take. One is to Hoover Dam, which is about a 45-60 minute drive from the Strip. The other is to Red Rock Canyon which is about 30-45 minutes from the Strip.

At Hoover Dam there is onsite parking, souvenir shop, and full tours available that will take you deep inside the inner workings of the Dam. You can also drive up to the Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge and walk across to get a great view of the Dam from high above. There is a security check point right before you enter the Dam area so act normal. They take security seriously.

On one of our trips a good friend was in the front seat typing away on his laptop. I told him he better put his computer up because it would arouse suspicion. He didn’t and they pulled us over for the full treatment.

You can still drive across the Dam but only to park on the Arizona side. You cannot continue on to Arizona. Now you must drive across the O’Callaghan-Tillman Bridge.

Here are driving instructions to the Dam from the Strip

At Red Rock Canyon, there is a 13 mile one-way scenic drive where you may see burros, snakes, road runners, hawks, lizards, toads, and foxes. You may even see some tarantulas, scorpions, and dragonflies. There are incredible landscapes. The terrain is amazing. Red Rock Canyon has been part of many movies and commercials. Once you visit you will know why.

Here are driving instructions to Red Rock Canyon from the Strip

shutterstock_191625797

[easy-social-share buttons="facebook,twitter,google,more,pinterest,linkedin,reddit,digg,print,mail" morebutton="1" morebutton_icon="plus" counters=1 counter_pos="hidden" total_counter_pos="leftbig" style="button" nospace="no" facebook_text="Share" twitter_text="Tweet" google_text="Plus" pinterest_text="Pin" linkedin_text="Link" digg_text="Digg" print_text="Print" mail_text="Email" reddit_text="Link" template="metro-retina"]

 

Join the conversation!

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, vulgarity, profanity, all caps, or discourteous behavior. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain a courteous and useful public environment where we can engage in reasonable discourse.