One of the better blessings of life in Southern Nevada is the ease of accessing Lake Mead National Recreation Area. The area’s one big drawback is its low elevation and lack of shade, meaning that daytime temperatures become unpleasant by late spring. So the ideal time to go there is in the next few weeks, especially if you wish to hike one of the trails, have a picnic, or catch the last of the wildflowers.
Arches National Park, just outside the town of Moab, Utah, lives up to its name. The park contains more than 2,000 natural sandstone arches, the densest concentration in the world. Besides arches, you will also get to see natural windows, balanced rocks, fins, pinnacles and hoodoos.
Over the next month or so is one of the finest times to enjoy Zion National Park, Utah. The weather is ideal; the leaves are popping out on the deciduous trees; wildflowers are appearing; and the birds are out and about enjoying springtime.
Footloose Las Vegans travel in all directions of the compass but tend to reserve southerly excursions for colder months. You still have time for at least one more trip southward before the weather warms too much.
One of the great advantages of living in this region is being able to enjoy nature up close and privately, along the many uncrowded back roads.
Joshua Tree National Park, just outside of Twentynine Palms, Calif., is often overlooked in favor of better-known parks, but it shouldn’t be.
Zion National Park is the default destination for many Southern Nevadans who require frequent doses of wilderness, but in winter, snow and ice sometimes make its best-known trails too dangerous to hike.
A great winter activity for snow lovers is cross-country skiing or snowshoeing in Cedar Breaks National Monument, Utah.
For more than 60 years, the town of St. Thomas was a legend — Nevada’s Atlantis, lying deep under the surface of Lake Mead. But after drought lowered the waters in 2002 and uncovered the old settlement, it has become an interesting and educational destination, with the bonus of a scenic drive to get there and back.
Grafton, Utah, offers one of those sweet visual experiences that decorate a traveler’s memory like so many ornaments on a Christmas tree.
