Search results for:

Paddlewheel cruise boats plying Lake Mead and the Colorado River recall the days before dams controlled the river and created lakes. Sturdy little steamboats served as workhorses on the untamed river of yesteryear. A vital link for remote communities, the boats carried passengers, supplies, draft animals, equipment and the production from area mines and mills. In bygone days, the challenging passage on the river always included elements of danger from shifting sand bars, driftwood, boulders and white-water rapids through narrow canyons.

An excellent guidebook on Southern Nevada, “Geologic Tours in the Las Vegas Area,” is now available with updated content and GPS coordinates. If you hurry, you can still obtain the newly released edition in time for holiday gift-giving. Sure to please desert lovers and Nevada buffs, the guide will be a welcome addition to collections of reference materials on the state.

While striving to meet the growing demand for wine in this country, the wine industry expands into unlikely areas for viticulture, places once considered too extreme for grapes to flourish. Located in the Mojave Desert just a mountain range away from Death Valley, the driest place in North America, Pahrump Valley ranks among the most unlikely locations for a winery. But there sits the Pahrump Valley Winery, a winebibber’s oasis just an hour’s drive from Las Vegas on Highway 160.

Holiday train excursions create memories families hold dear for years to come. Southern Nevada families seeking special holiday experiences find possibilities of traveling with Santa aboard vintage Nevada trains in Boulder City, Ely and Carson City, as well as in Northern Arizona at Williams and Cottonwood. Tickets go fast for the holiday train rides, so act soon.

Occupying a little bluff outside Overton, the Lost City Museum, Pueblo Grande de Nevada, interprets thousands of years of cultural heritage along the Muddy River in northeastern Clark County. Inside, the facility protects a treasury of artifacts spanning 10,000 years of human activity in the river valley. Outside, it re-creates the kind of multi-unit village developed by farmers of prehistory populating areas with water resources in the desert Southwest.

Across the nation this month, Native American history and culture receive special recognition and remembrance. President Bush recently declared November as National American Indian Heritage Month. Additionally, federal officialdom designated the day after Thanksgiving, Nov. 28, as Native American Heritage Day. Thereafter, governors of many states, including Nevada, gave their stamp of approval to the 2008 observations.

The Death Valley 49ers Days annually ushers in the peak visitation season in Death Valley National Park. Winding up today, this early November celebration draws hundreds of visitors, filing campgrounds, restaurants, park hostelries and accommodations in surrounding communities. As scores of recreational vehicles and other transportation depart following the festivities, regular visitors find park facilities back to normal and far less crowded.

Special events jam November calendars, luring Southern Nevadans outdoors to enjoy the bright, balmy days of autumn on the desert. Next weekend, for instance, activities deserving notice include art festivals in Logandale and Boulder City, a Mountain Man Rendezvous in Red Rock and a Native American powwow in Las Vegas. So many events; so little time.

Typically balmy autumn days in the Southwest invite vacationing Southern Nevadans to explore scenic and historic regions such as the Four Corners area of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah. Among the many treasures of the past preserved in state and national parks and monuments in that region, hautingly beautiful Hovenweep National Monument stands out.

Beatty annually celebrates its colorful history during Beatty Days, slated to coincide with the upcoming statewide three-day holiday for Nevada Day, Oct. 31-Nov. 2. The little town 115 miles from Las Vegas on U.S. 95 schedules family-style events and entertainment reminiscent of celebrations during Beatty’s early years more than a century ago.