The first thing most people think of when they think about Las Vegas is the strip. Bright blinking neon lights, loud music, and spotlights are more of what people envision in Las Vegas than wide open spaces, natural park like settings, nature watches, and the beauty of the desert at sunset. Of course that is if you can get a little ways out of Las Vegas otherwise, you'll never notice the sun going down beyond the bright lights.

Granted most of these beautiful places to visit are fair distances from Las Vegas but if you are this close to them it would be a shame to miss out on their beauty for the sake of a car ride. The first one I would like to mention is Bryce Canyon National Park, which is actually in southwest Utah and about 270 miles from Las Vegas. The major feature of the park is Bryce Canyon which is a collection of natural amphitheaters along the eastern side of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. The rim varies from 8,000 to 9,000 feet. At Rainbow Point, the highest part of the park at 9,105 feet, the Aquarius Plateau, Bryce Amphitheater, Henry Mountains, Vermillion Cliffs, and White Cliffs can all be observed. You should also be on the lookout for some of the wildlife particularly the Great Basin Rattlesnake, bald eagles, and golden eagles. There are beautiful flowers that often bloom in the spring and early summer months. If you happen to be visiting at this time it's worth keeping an eye out.

The Grand Canyon, the United States 15th oldest National Park, is about 300 miles southeast of Las Vegas in Arizona The parks central feature is the Grand Canyon, a gorge of the Colorado River. The park covers about 1,902 square miles of area. The primary public areas are the North Rim, a more remote area with less tourist activity, and the South Rim which is more accessible so most visitors to the park go there. Some 30 miles of the South Rim is accessible by road. This is another beauty that is well worth seeing if you have a day free. You can also opt to take one of many tours that will take you around the canyon and some that will take you to the bottom and back up again.

Floyd Lamb Park at Tule Springs is a 2,040 acre park located about 20 miles from the strip in Las Vegas. The park is centered around Tule Springs, a series of small lakes that formed an oasis in this part of the Mohave Desert. It has four fully stocked lakes: Tule Springs Lake, Mulberry Lake, Cottonwood Lake, and Desert Willow Lake. In addition many fossils and remains have been identified here and include the following: bison, mammoths, camels, giant sloths, and horse among other animals.

Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the United States in maximum water capacity, is another great area nearby in which to enjoy the great outdoors of the Nevada desert. Lake Mead is a man-made lake and the 16th largest of its kind in this hemisphere. This lake was created by the Colorado River and the Hoover Dam and is about 1.5 million acres located about 24 miles southeast of the Las Vegas strip in Nevada and Arizona. The lake is divided into several bodies of water, the Boulder Basin, the Virginia Basin, the Overton Arm, Temple Basin, and Gregg Basin among others. There are some spectacular views including the River Mountains and Muddy Mountains, visible from the Boulder Basin, and the Bonelli Peak visible from the Virginia Basin.

You can do a lot more than view wildlife in any of these parks and each one offers something special to those that visit. I would recommend that you spend at least one day of your trip outdoors in nature when visiting Las Vegas.

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