VEGAS BEYOND THE STRIP

What Is There to Do in Las Vegas Besides The Strip and Casinos?

More than you think. A lot more.

People who don’t live here tend to think Las Vegas begins at the Welcome sign and ends somewhere around Wynn. Those of us who actually live here know better.

There’s an entirely different Las Vegas beyond the neon—mountains, lakes, trails, orchards, horses, desert drives and some genuinely strange adventures that could only exist in Nevada.

So, whether you’re thinking about moving here, visiting someone who already has, or you’ve lived here for years and somehow still haven’t ventured past the 215, here are a few ways to experience Las Vegas without setting foot inside a casino.

Go on a Dam Tour. Hoover Dam, That Is.

We have to use this.

About 40 minutes from Las Vegas sits one of the most impressive engineering projects in America: Hoover Dam.

Walk across it, take the official tour, see the massive generators inside, or head over to the Mike O’Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge for one of the best views of the dam.

And yes, when someone asks what you did in Vegas, you get to tell them you went on a dam tour.

Trade the Pool Cabana for a Paddleboard

Lake Las Vegas and Lake Mead make it very easy to forget you’re living in the middle of the Mojave Desert.

Kayaking and paddleboarding are both great options, and Lake Mead opens up an enormous amount of country to explore. You can also kayak portions of the Colorado River, including the water below Hoover Dam.

It’s a completely different version of Vegas: cliffs, blue water, desert and—most importantly—no slot machines ringing in the background.

Go Find Snow in Las Vegas

Yes. Snow.

Mount Charleston is roughly an hour from the city, but it can feel like another state entirely. Hiking, mountain biking, scenic drives and cooler temperatures make it one of the best escapes from Vegas during warmer months. Tucked into the Spring Mountains near Mount Charleston, Lee Canyon⁠ is Las Vegas’ own ski and snowboard resort, with 31 trails and 445 acres of total terrain, including 195 lift-served acres and another 250 acres of hike-to terrain. The resort’s summit reaches 11,289 feet, making it a pretty surreal winter escape from the desert below. One minute you’re surrounded by palm trees in Las Vegas, and roughly an hour later you can be riding a chairlift through snow-covered pines. 

Come winter, Lee Canyon brings skiing and snowboarding into the equation.

One morning you can be looking at palm trees in Summerlin and later that day be standing in snow.

Vegas is weird like that.

Drive the Red Rock Loop

You don’t have to be an avid hiker to appreciate Red Rock Canyon.

Take the scenic loop, hike one of the trails, rock climb, or just pull over and stare at the landscape for a while. It’s one of those places that reminds you how spectacular Southern Nevada actually is.

For something different, book a horseback ride through the Red Rock area and see the desert the old-fashioned way.

Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area is home to a 13-mile, one-way Scenic Drive that gives you access to 21 different hiking trails from 12 trailheads and parking areas, ranging from quick desert walks to challenging climbs.  One of the favorites is Calico Tanks Trail, a 2.5-mile round trip through sandstone terrain that ends with sweeping views across the Las Vegas Valley. You can also head into Ice Box Canyon for a cooler, more rugged canyon hike, explore Pine Creek Canyon, or take on longer routes like Turtlehead Peak and the 11-mile Grand Circle Adventure.  It’s one of those things that surprises people about living here: roughly 17 miles west of the Strip, Vegas suddenly looks a whole lot less like neon and a whole lot more like the wild Mojave Desert. 

Spend a Day at Spring Mountain Ranch

Just beyond Red Rock is Spring Mountain Ranch State Park—a historic ranch tucked beneath the mountains that feels nothing like the Las Vegas most visitors imagine.

Pack lunch, walk the grounds and check the calendar for seasonal performances and events, including outdoor theater.

This one is especially good when you want something slower than Vegas usually allows.

Pick Your Own Food in Las Vegas

Another sentence nobody expects to hear.

At Gilcrease Orchard, you can pick seasonal fruits and vegetables right from the farm. Then there’s The Farm, another longtime local spot that gives you a glimpse of what this valley looked like before subdivisions covered most of it.

And yes, Las Vegas also has a cactus garden—because of course we do.

See the Desert From a Helicopter

If you’re going to live in one of the most dramatic landscapes in the country, you might as well see it properly.

Helicopter tours can take you over Red Rock, Hoover Dam, Lake Mead and farther into the Southwest.

The Strip gets photographed from the air constantly.

The desert deserves its turn.

Go Faster Than You Probably Should

Las Vegas Motor Speedway offers an entirely different flavor of entertainment, and there are several driving and racing experiences around the valley.

If you’d rather keep things closer to the ground—and slightly less expensive—go-karting gives you the racing fix without explaining a Ferrari-shaped charge on your credit card afterward.

Head to the Water

Between Lake Mead and Lake Las Vegas, boating, kayaking, paddleboarding and fishing are all within easy reach of the city.

That’s one of the things people relocating here often don’t realize:

You can live in the desert and still own a boat.

Explore the Nevada Most Tourists Never See

This is where I think Zack’s article could become more interesting than the usual SEO “10 Things To Do Off The Strip” piece.

Valley of Fire. Boulder City. Historic Railroad Trail. Nelson Ghost Town. Tule Springs. Floyd Lamb Park. Desert National Wildlife Refuge. Even a day trip toward Death Valley when the weather is appropriate.

You could keep going.

And that’s really the point.

The Other Side of Las Vegas

Las Vegas is famous for what happens on four miles of Las Vegas Boulevard.

But that’s not necessarily what it’s like to live here.

Living here can mean paddleboarding Saturday morning, hiking Red Rock Sunday, skiing at Mount Charleston in winter and having dinner downtown that night. It can mean horses, desert trails, farmers markets, lakes and wide-open country—all with one of the world’s biggest entertainment destinations sitting in your backyard whenever you actually want it.

The Strip is part of Las Vegas.

It isn’t all of Las Vegas.

And if you’re considering making Southern Nevada home, that’s probably the part worth knowing.

— Zack Schilling
Riffle & Schilling | Summit Collective
Simply Vegas