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Some Interesting Facts about Nevada

The great neon noise that is Las Vegas is only one of the facets of Nevada. Elsewhere, ghost towns stand in dusty sagebrush landscape and remote alpine meadows burst into glorious bloom.

Las Vegas; think of it as a giant theme park and the theme is excess. On Las Vegas's fabled Strip, you can find billon-dollar hotels, an erupting volcano, a pirate battle at sea, replica of the Sphinx, jungles, fountains, and casinps with neon signs that turn the night into day. Inside the casinos, daylight is eliminated altogether, and in the dark reaches of the vast carpeted rooms you hear the ringing and clanging of slot machines the siren call to gamblers.

If gambling doesn't appeal to you, keep in mind that Vegas can be as much fun for a spectator as for a participant. The hotels are fantasyland; the Luxor is ancient Egypt, Caesar's Palace is ancient Rome, the Mirage is the South Pacific---and no expense has been spared to carry out the themes.

The white Siberian tiger habitat at the Mirage, the top-dollar Forum Shops at Caesar's and the display of $1million in cash at Binion's Horseshoe downtown are some of the more famous sights. But the best attraction of all is the people, most of whom act as if every day were New Year's Eve.

Area: 110567 sq.mi, 7th Land 109806 sq. mi., 7th - Water 761 sq.mi

Agriculture: Cattle, hay, dairy products, potatoes.

In Las Vegas you can also enjoy, Liberace Museum, Gambler's Book Club, Hoover Dam, and lets not forget the Grand Canyon. and Red Rock Canyon.

Mount Charleston; the Spring Mountains, a geological island that reaches almost 12,000 feet in elevation, rise out of the barren Mojave Desert. You can drive as high as 8,500 feet on Mount Charleston, Nevada's third-highest peak, by way of Kyle Canyon and Lee Canyon. Take one of the short trails on the mountain to stands of bristlecone pines, considered the oldest living things on earth; or to Cathedral Rock of Desert View.

Death Valley; the drive to Death Valley National Monument passes by the nation's atomic testing grounds---visitors not welcome! Much of Death Valley lies just across the state line in California Despite its forbidding name, the valley is a beautiful place to tour.

Goldfield; it has been said that if Nevada were a country, it would be the forth-largest gold-producing nation in the world. Plenty of gold remains in these hills, but the boom is over for Goldfield. In the early 1900's it was the largest town in Nevada, but today most of the turn-of-the-century buildings are empty. Still functioning though is the handsome Esmeralda County Court House, which is all that saves the town from oblivion. Less handsome, but also surviving, is the old Santa Fe Saloon somewhat of a town museum, with old photographs and newspaper headlines.

Warm Springs / Lunar Crater; this abandoned hamlet, with one lone ranch house and a stone corral, is the junction for Rte. 6 which takes you to Lunar Crater, a volcanic field so rugged that the Apollo astronauts considered training here.

Valley Of Fire State Park; this was Nevada's first state park--a line of massive sandstone cliffs that have been eroded into such odd shapes as Elephant Rock. A short walk leads to some Indian petroglyphs; another easy trail passes by petrified logs. At certain times, when the light is just right, the rocks glow a fiery red.

Hoover Dam; the lights of the Las Vegas Strip glittering on the desert floor are powered in part by the engineering muscle of this modern marvel. The Hoover Dam created vast Lake Mead, which provides several Western states with water and power by impounding the mighty Colorado River as it exits the Grand Canyon.

Travel the Great Basin and High Desert; such places as, Carson City, Genoa, Lake Tahoe, Carlin Canyon, Lamoille, Great Basin National Park, Austin, Cold Springs, Fort Churchill, and Virginia City.