Red Rock Canyon
A desert day 30–45 minutes from the Las Vegas Strip: the one-way Scenic Drive through Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, a scramble up to the Calico Tanks rain pool, a creekside walk into Pine Creek Canyon, a picnic at Spring Mountain Ranch State Park and the Red Spring boardwalk in the late light.
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From mid-October to November and in March and April, Red Rock usually brings clear, dry days that are warm by midday and cool in the morning and after sunset, and the Visitor Center sits at 3,720 feet, well above the Strip. Sun on sandstone feels hotter than the air temperature, and shade is scarce on most trails. Fall brings both heat spells and cold fronts. Winter brings occasional snow and ice that close the drive, and summer highs average over 100°F with afternoon thunderstorms and flash floods. These are seasonal expectations, not a forecast for your travel date; check the NWS forecast.
Admission and parking are separate. Check current conditions before departure.
A desert day from the Las Vegas Strip to Valley of Fire State Park: Ancestral Puebloan petroglyphs at Atlatl Rock and in Petroglyph Canyon, the striped slickrock of the Fire Wave, the White Domes slot canyon and Elephant Rock, with an optional scenic return along Lake Mead's Northshore Road.
A road trip from the Las Vegas Strip to Hoover Dam: an early guided tour inside the dam, the walkway across the Mike O'Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge high above Black Canyon, lunch in the dam-builders' town of Boulder City, an old railway museum, a walk through the 1930s railroad tunnels above Lake Mead and a late stop at the lakeshore.
The cool escape from Las Vegas: up into the pines of the Spring Mountains for the Visitor Gateway, a short canyon walk to Little Falls, lunch in Kyle Canyon, the Desert View Overlook on Deer Creek Road and an afternoon at Lee Canyon, with a scenic chairlift ride in season.