This was a great mix of outdoor exploring and neon overload.
At the end of March 2019 we flew into Las Vegas McCarran airport, picked up our RV, rented from Outdoorsy.com and after stocking up on food, water and firewood headed to the Valley of Fire State Park. Travelling at this time the weather was ideal. The days were sunny and warm, the evenings cooled down but the campfires and a fleece kept us cosy and we didn’t freeze at night in the RV (and I am easily cold)
This state park is about 1hr 15 minutes from the airport and costs $10 to enter. Great for a day trip with bouldering, petroglyphs and trail options throughout. There are 2 campgrounds in the state park with electricity & water hook ups and a dump station for $20 a night, but they do not take reservations. If you can’t get a pitch there, no problem, you can go Boondocking (for free!) and which turned out to be my favourite. About 2 miles after you exit the north of the park in the direction of Overton, there is a gravel trail to the right and likely you will see a couple of RVs parked up already. Follow the trail and find your spot in the wilderness.
An additional mile on is an area called the Snowbird Mesa or Poverty Flats. This was full of RVs, so if you feel happier with a few more neighbours this is for you.
Day 2 we drove back west to Red Rock Canyon, about 20 minutes from the Las Vegas strip. This park has a scenic drive loop of 13 miles with trails and overlooks to stop at. When we arrived mid morning the loop was at capacity and they were not letting anyone else in so we continued on a few miles and found Spring Mountain Ranch State Park. $10 to enter, there is a picnic area with some shade, the ranch house to tour and easy trails to explore.
Red Rock Canyon Campground is open from 1 September to the 1 June and does take reservations. It is simple with 2 toilets available close to the RV loop, no hook ups but each RV pitch had a BBQ, a fire pit and a picnic table. This was the children’s favourite and they spent the afternoon collecting rocks and running up and down the hills.
The following morning we were up and off in good time to get our space on the Scenic Loop before the crowds. There’s an interesting visitor centre and the maps and website give details about picnic areas, toilets and all the trails available on the route to help you choose your level.
Night 3 we were booked in at Lake Mead RV Village at Boulder City. This site was easing us back into civilisation – power and water hook ups, individual dump stations, shower block, picnic table and fire pit. And we splashed out on a lake view pitch at $50. Great sunset with the lake turning as red as the rocks.
We chose to stay in this location so we could easily visit the Hoover dam which was just a 15 minute drive away. After a morning at the dam and on the Mike O’Callaghan and Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge we were ready to make our way back to Las Vegas to return the RV and check in at New York, New York on the strip.
Las Vegas is perhaps not the first place you’d think of to visit with children but it definitely can work and be a fun new experience for the whole family.
We did some research on the hotels in Vegas and there really is something for everyone and every budget. We could have also kept the RV and stayed on a campground near downtown but in the end we decided on New York-New York. We had recently visited New York (see here) and the hotel has its own roller coaster – say no more!
If you are resident at the hotel the ride tickets are discounted – result! Then disaster – minimum height is 54″ (137cm) and our daughter wasn’t tall enough. Some swift googling and we found the Adventuredome at Circus Circus with more roller coaster options. We had planned to visit here anyway to catch the free circus acts at the Midway so we bought the all day wrist bands for the Adventuredome and also ducked out to see the circus shows and tried some child style ‘gambling’.
It was a good day, my only negative was the cigarette smoke. All the hotel casinos seem to allow smoking but at New York – New York it was barely noticeable. At Circus Circus, which is an older, more budget hotel we decided their air conditioning/fans/vents system was just not as effective. This would put me off staying there.
Another afternoon we walked down the strip calling in at the big hotels we’ve all heard of: the Bellagio, the Venetian, Cesar’s Palace – where we caught the free Fall Of Atlantis show – and Mirage where we had dinner before seeing our Vegas show, Cirque du Soleil’s Love. And we did all love it!
I initially searched for the most popular Vegas shows and we selected Love, then I checked out several ticket sale sites looking for the best price and in the end came across the Mirage hotel’s own page where there was a special offer and the individual ticket price was at least $20 less than everywhere else I’d looked. For me, it’s always worth taking a bit, or sometimes a lot, of time to hunt for the best deal – I love to find a bargain.
And, of course, we had to stop at the Bellagio fountains at night.
We also had the volcano at Mirage on our list to see but tiredness and walking the length of the strip got the better of us, so we’ll save that and the Esports Gaming Arena for next time.
Love the blog! You plan the best adventures…!! xx