Hey friends, welcome back to Grand Adventure! I'm your host Marc Guido, and welcome to
Las Vegas, Nevada! We have a whole new episode in store for you tonight and I promise you,
this will not be your stereotypical Las Vegas video, so stay tuned.
This episode of Grand Adventure is sponsored by The Dyrt PRO! Find the campsite that's right for
you from over 44,000 listings, either on the web or on their number one-ranked mobile app.
Try all of the PRO features free for 90 days by using the promo code GrandAdventure90!
There are plenty of travel videos out there that showcase the Las Vegas Strip and downtown
Las Vegas. You've probably already visited those places yourself anyway. That's not why we're here,
we're really not Vegas types. Instead, we're passing through over the Labor Day weekend,
hiding in the city to escape the holiday weekend camping craziness in many of the
beautiful areas of southern Nevada, southern Utah, northwestern Arizona and southeastern
California that would be our alternatives this week. We're here to get caught up on some chores,
Amazon deliveries and necessary shopping as we continue on our full-time RV travels.
Seriously, Vegas has the first Trader Joe's that we've encountered since we left
Salt Lake City on May 1st, and that's a necessary stop for us. That's not to say, however,
that there's no natural beauty surrounding Las Vegas. To the contrary, those willing to
drive just a few minutes from the city will find some surprisingly stunning landscapes to enjoy.
So instead of spending our time on The Strip gambling or taking in a show,
we're instead going to bring you to the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area surrounding Mt.
Charleston, and the BLM's Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area barely on the outskirts of the
city. Before we do that, though, we'd like to share with you how it is that we ended up here.
We traveled south from our last stop near Elko, Nevada following our friends Dale and Pat.
If you missed that episode from Elko we'll put a link right here on the screen so you
can go back and check it out. Northern Nevada is filled with long, lonely desert roads dotted
with sporadic small towns that are few and far between -- just like the gas stations out here.
We had planned to spend a week boondocking near the tiny town of Eureka. With a population of 480
it is nevertheless by far the largest community in Eureka County, located along the Lincoln
Highway U.S. Route 50, nicknamed "The Loneliest Road in America". But our friend Janet from the
YouTube channel 2012escapee1 cautioned us that the camping opportunties close to Eureka are
few and far between, so we instead headed 70 miles west to the next town, Austin, to connect
with Janet at the US Forest Service's Bob Scott Campground in the Toiyabe Mountains east of town.
Austin is even smaller than Eureka, if you can believe that, with a population of only 192,
but it's incredibly cute. It's a tiny western desert town that hasn't yet been restored into a
tourist trap. Down from a population that actually exceeded 10,000 in the 1860s, the townspeople left
when the mines played out. Gold and silver mining has since continued sporadically in the area
at generally low levels of production, but high quality turquoise is also mined in the area
in small quantities, and several local artisans handcraft jewelry from the local turquoise.
It seemed that Austin would be perfect to explore for our week, but the morning after our arrival we
awoke to intense smoke from the wildfires burning in California. Dale and Pat left to return to Salt
Lake City, and we bid farewell to Janet and continued further south to escape the smoke.
We didn't stop driving for another 4 hours, to an oasis in the desert
known as Nevada Treasure RV Resort outside of Pahrump, about 90 minutes west of Las Vegas.
Our longtime Grand Adventurers may recall that we stayed here
for our Episode 77 from Death Valley National Park, so we knew that this was a sure bet.
There's nothing but asphalt between the sites at Nevada Treasure,
and they're packed tightly together. But you don't stay at Nevada Treasure for the RV sites,
you stay there for the facilities, which are positively gorgeous.
In addition to the spectacular pool and spa complex there's a bar & grill,
full-size fitness center and even a bowling alley on site. Nightly rates range from $44
to $66 per night full hookup, and weekly, monthly and Good Sam discounts are available.
Check out the little tiki cabana that was part of our RV site.
Come Saturday morning, it was time to move on to Las Vegas.
Just 39 miles west of downtown Las Vegas is the National Forest Service's
Spring Mountains National Recreation Area. It surrounds 11,916-foot Mt. Charleston,
which rises nearly 10,000 feet of elevation above Las Vegas,
and is thus a whopping 30 degrees cooler during our visit. There are two primary canyons on the
east side of Mt. Charleston: Kyle Canyon, and Lee Canyon. Deer Creek Road connects the two.
At the head of Kyle Canyon sits the unincorporated town of Mt. Charleston,
centered on a cluster of mountain vacation homes and summer cabins.
Parts of Lee Canyon look for all the world like a mini Yosemite.
Many folks may not realize it, but it's even possible to ski right outside of Las Vegas,
for at the head of Lee Canyon is the admittedly diminutive Lee Canyon Ski Resort.
The other spot on our agenda this weekend is Red Rock Canyon,
a National Conservation Area in the Mojave Desert just 17 miles west of the Las Vegas Strip.
It's maintained by the BLM and known for towering red sandstone peaks and
the Keystone Thrust Fault, as well as Native American petroglyphs.
There are numerous hiking trails, and panoramic viewing spots dot a 13-mile Scenic Drive.
Admission costs $15 per vehicle, although your interagency National Parks pass is valid here.
Thanks to its proximity to Vegas, Red Rock Canyon is visited by more than two million
people each year. In marked contrast to a town geared to entertainment and gaming,
Red Rock Canyon offers enticements of a different nature including rock climbing,
horseback riding, and mountain and road biking.
While visiting Las Vegas, taking in the Spring Mountains and Red Rock Canyon,
and running some necessary errands, we're staying at the massive Las Vegas RV Resort
off Boulder Highway on the east side of town. Limited to visitors ages 18 and up only,
there are a whopping 378 full hookup sites here ranging in price from $29 to $55 per night.
You'll find Las Vegas RV Resort, and over one million other campsites, reviews and tips at
our video sponsor The Dyrt! PRO members even get the ability to search for a campsite while
outside of cell service or Wi-Fi range, as well as trip routing, public land map layers,
and campground and camping gear discounts. Best of all, our Grand Adventurers get to
try all of the PRO features free for 90 days, just by using the promo code GrandAdventure90!
Click on the link down below in the video description to try The Dyrt PRO for free today!
So we truly hope that you've enjoyed exploring some of the more unusual sights and sounds
surrounding Las Vegas! If you liked this episode please be sure to give us a big "thumbs up" down
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So until next week please remember, life is nothing but a Grand Adventure! We'll see you then.