Vegas for a week - Where to go off roading - Posted here because regional forums are ghost towns.

Mods, please don’t move this to the regional ghost towns. I would actually like some suggestions from forum members, and the threads aren’t even seen in the regional forums.

So the first week of April my wife and I are going to Vegas for a week. We don’t drink or gamble, just going to get away for a week. We plan to do a fair bit of off roading.

one thing to note, is she doesn’t do dropoffs. If you can look off the edge of the road and see imminent death, we don’t take the road. I wanted to go see Striped Butte and the Geologist’s Cabin, but I think she would freak out on the mountain passes.

One day I know we will be going down to Badwater Basin.
That leaves a lot of days of off roading to be had.

Someone had posted going to an old settlement north of Vegas, I think. I can’t find the post/thread.

What do you all from the Vegas area suggest? I don’t know what is good to see and I am open to suggestions.

 

There are a few websites I use for finding campsites and stuff, here check them out for doing some research:

https://thedyrt.com/
https://nextcampsite.com/#

Also, search YouTube, lots of people post videos of popular off-roading areas, so if you just search for “area/city/state/region off-roading” you’ll find some stuff too.

I’ve been wanting to check out Valley of Fire near Vegas next time I go out that way, but I have no clue about off-roading and stuff there, just seems like a cool park:

http://parks.nv.gov/parks/valley-of-fire

 

Wheeler pass is dope!

 

I've been to Valley of Fire. It is pretty cool. Unfortunately we didn't get to explore much off of the main road. We had just come back from Mammoth Lakes and were fitting it in before our flight. It is always possible I'll return though!

 

As a local one of my favorite spots to take people to is Titus Canyon. 2wd friendly but I would recommend HC. It’s not in Vegas but only about 1:15-1:30 from town. It spits you out in Death Valley and that’s great.

Another great scenic look is the Gold Butte Back Country Byway. It’s long so plan on it taking a whole day with stops. No drops, nothing scary but I would suggest 4wd because the backside can get loose after rains and we have had a little in the last month.

Wheeler pass is pretty good but you definitely want HC 4WD. If you start from Cold Creek it’s the last mile that will get you... But once at the top the ride to Pahrump is pretty nice. Be wary of Desert Pinstripes. From that side of the Spring Mountains check out Carpenter Canyon. It’s a short NARROW (bushes and trees) drive up a spring to a cool camp spot. It’s crowded on the weekends though so be warned.

The ride to Goodsprings is kinda cool. I’m a little turned off because of all the jerks in SXS... They tend to drive like assholes.

Depending on your day you could check out Desert Wildlife National Preserve. You have a few options there. An out and back to Peek-a-boo canyon would leave plenty of the day open for other adventures or you could do the 98+ mile loop to Alamo and back to Vegas. Peek-a-boo is 2wd friendly just rough. The Alamo loop is a little more remote and you have to cross a Playa.

My last suggestion would be something like the Bittersprings Backcountry Byway to Echo Bay or some of the little trails in Lake Meade National Park. Boxcar Cove has some good out and back driving as well as Boathouse Cove.

When your bored checkout Birdandhike.com I met Jim a while back and his website has been great for finding spots in southern NV.

Other than Titus I didn’t really give you suggestions for ghost towns but those drives are really nice. Nothing with crazy exposure and are close enough to Vegas that you could do them as day trips.

Oh. I guess I should mention the Mojave Trail isn’t far either. It’s not recommended as a day trip but you could hit part of it and see something like Fort Paiute or the Lava Tubes. IIRC the whole thing is 120+ miles.


Hope this gives you a good jump off point.
-M

 

If you need to head north, this route would be a challenge.

https://www.race-dezert.com/home/event-update-vegas-to-reno-is-on-195127.html

 

@PilotMM Thank you! This is exactly what I have been looking for. There are a couple trips you listed that we will definitely be taking. We will be taking my Jeep, so clearance and capability should be fine. There are so many places you listed, I’ll have a hard time picking which one!

As far as the SXS drivers... I live in the Sedona area. We have a plethora or Tourons (tourist morons) that come and rent one and think they just became Mad Max, and it’s Welcome to the Thunderdome. What pisses my off the most about them, is the inability to stay on the trail. It’s probably just a few, but they break trail and start tearing up the vegetation and old crust. This gets the USFS all wound up, and too many trails have been closed for regrowth because of this practice. The tourons don’t care, they were here, had fun and left. It’s the locals that get the short end of the stick because their trails are closed.

 

This x1000. I gotta remember that, Tourons. LOL


In the unlikely chance you get stuck Las Vegas also has SNORR, Southern Nevada Off-Road Recovery. It’s a free service too! Just find their FB page or find a way to share your coordinates with someone that can post them to the FB page and someone will come help you out.

If you have any other questions let me know. I spend a lot of time exploring out here with my wife and kids.
-M

 

check out gold point- cool old abandoned mining town