off the beaten path

Southern Nevada has a wealth of places to satisfy your craving for adventure.

By CHARLIE JOHNSTON | January/February 2011

Some of Southern Nevada’s best attractions aren’t so universally known. These off-the-beaten-path stops are generally every bit as easy to get to as the heavy hitters, but offer smaller crowds and a feeling of discovery that is as real-Nevada as sagebrush and silver mines.

So gas up the rental, dust off your spirit of adventure, and explore some of these hidden gems—maybe you’ll find a few more secrets on the way.

BONNIE SPRINGS

In 1952, Bonnie Levinson, a former Las Vegas showgirl, and her husband, Al, set out to reinvent the Old West. After tireless historical research their dream was realized in Bonnie Springs Ranch near Blue Diamond.

The 1880s mining town replica, ranch, motel, and restaurant is a 25-minute drive from Las Vegas but feels like a world—and a century—away from the Strip.

Activities for children and adults abound. In addition to the facsimile 19th-century town, there are gift shops, a petting zoo, horseback riding, scenic tours, and frequent reenactments of Old West standbys such as shootouts and hangings. The onsite restaurant and bar keeps visitors content and fueled for their frontier adventures, and the motel offers accommodations that range from simple to Jacuzzi suites.

CONTACT

Bonnie Springs Ranch
16935 Bonnie Springs Rd., Blue Diamond
bonniesprings.com
702-875-4191

REFLECTIONS

The boarded sidewalks snap under your heels, the sounds, the sights, and smells are at once foreign but somehow familiar. The Old West lives again, and, by golly, you’re standing smack-hold-your-hat-dab in the middle of it.

“Bonnie Springs Old Nevada”
Nevada Magazine, Fall 1975

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BOOTLEG CANYON

As Southern Nevada destinations go, quaint, laid-back Boulder City is about as far off-the-beaten-Strip as you can get. But for a truly offbeat adventure, consider Boulder City’s Bootleg Canyon. The canyon and surrounding mountainsides are crisscrossed with almost 40 miles of world-class mountain-biking trails, with rides to match everyone from beginner to advanced adrenaline junkie. Bootleg’s trails are designated as “epic rides” by the International Mountain Bicycling Association.

If rattling over rocks and dirt on two wheels sounds a little too high-impact for your taste, consider rising above the dust with Bootleg Canyon Flightlines. After orientation and training, guests are shuttled to the top of Red Mountain where one of four zip lines will take them down the mountain and across canyons back to the bottom at speeds up to 50 mph. Views from the top and during the descent include Las Vegas, Lake Mead, and Boulder City. The zip lines range in length from 1,150 to 2,550 feet, and the overall outing lasts about two-and-a-half hours.

CONTACTS

Bootleg Canyon Mountain Bike Park
bootlegcanyon.org

Bootleg Canyon Flightlines
1512 Industrial Rd., Boulder City
bcflightlines.com
702-293-6885

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BLACK CANYON

Literally in the shadow of the mighty Hoover Dam—one of Southern Nevada’s most visited attractions—lies a much less frequented destination that is every bit as worthy of attention and even provides a unique perspective on the towering concrete barrier. Below the dam and the new Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Bridge, the Colorado River meanders through the 2,000-foot depths of Black Canyon.

Black Canyon River Adventures, in partnership with Forever Resorts, offers tours through the desert stronghold. Roundtrip transportation is offered from Las Vegas to the rafts that launch from the base of Hoover Dam. Knowledgeable guides share interesting information on the area’s history and unique geology, and tours often include chance sightings of such desert animals as bighorn sheep and osprey. Lunch is provided, and guests are invited to take a dip in the chilly river during stops along the shore.

CONTACTS

Black Canyon River Adventures
blackcanyonadventures.com
800-455-3490

Forever Resorts
foreverresorts.com
800-255-5561

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GRAPEVINE CANYON

Nothing can spoil a great archaeological site quite like a jumble of interpretive and warning signs, throngs of people, and scratched Lexan shields covering the finds. While it is perfectly understandable that this is the price we pay to preserve some historical treasures, it is nice to encounter places that don’t feel like outdoor museums.

Grapevine Canyon near Laughlin is mercifully devoid of the trappings of some similar sites. Thousands of petroglyphs dating to as early as 1100 A.D. plaster the rock faces at the entrance to the canyon, an easy quarter-mile hike from the gravel parking lot. The rock etchings of bighorn sheep, snakes, and other as yet un-deciphered meanings are close enough to touch—but we advise against doing so if you want them to remain that way. Farther up the canyon, a freshwater spring feeds lush vegetation such as cottonwood, arrowweed, and canyon grape in non-drought years.

CONTACT

National Park Service
601 Nevada Way, Boulder City
nps.gov/lake
702-293-8990

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NELSON

According to local legend, the area around Nelson and Eldorado Canyon has been mined for precious metals as far back as the early 1700s by American Indians, and later, Spanish explorers and Mormon settlers. During the area’s most productive years—from the early 1860s until the mid- 1900s—a handful of mines produced more than $5 million in gold and silver ore. Like most Nevada mining towns, Nelson and the rest of the region were abandoned when the mines busted, left to be reclaimed by the desert.

In the mid-1990s a family from Boulder City purchased the 50 acres that included the ruins of the old town and a handful of mines, including one of the region’s most productive, the Techatticup Mine. They restored buildings such as an old company store, stamp mill, bunkhouse, and a few cabins. They also equipped part of the mine with steel walkways, lights, emergency equipment, and proper ventilation to make it safe for public tours. Tours at Techatticup, about 45 minutes south of Las Vegas, bring visitors 500 feet into the mine and give a realistic look at what life was like for the miners who toiled in its depths.

CONTACT

Eldorado Canyon Mine Tours
eldoradocanyonminetours.com
702-291-0026

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ST. THOMAS

When the construction of Hoover Dam in Southern Nevada was officially announced in 1928, almost everyone in Southern Nevada was elated—emphasis on almost. Residents in St. Thomas didn’t take the news so well, and who could blame them? The dam’s construction was going to flood their town. Local legend holds that in 1938, Hugh Lord, the last resident to leave, paddled away from his home as the rising lake reached his front porch.

Today, the waters that drowned St. Thomas have receded to unprecedented levels, leaving the mud-encrusted foundations of the former town high and dry. A 2.5-mile loop trail leads to the ruins amid desert shrubbery from St. Thomas Point, easily accessed from State Route 169 and a well-marked gravel road. The town cemetery, relocated to nearby Overton in 1935 before the waters came, can be visited today. While in Overton, check out the Lost City Museum.

CONTACT

Lake Mead National Recreation Area
601 Nevada Way, Boulder City
nps.gov/lake
702-293-8990

REFLECTIONS

The men and women who lived in St. Thomas, who worked its fields and danced at its harvest festivals, never dreamed that one day everything they had built would disappear under 80 feet of black water.

“The Mormon Atlantis”
Nevada Magazine, December 1993