Tag: Adventure View All Tags
Tags: Day Trips / Red Rock Canyon / Adventure / Cheap Vegas / → All Tags
Escape the Strip at Red Rock Canyon
Red Rock in sunnier, redder-rocked times last week
Ah, Vegas. Lovely as the Strip is, sometimes the gamblin’ and the partyin’ and the (metaphorical, of course) whorin’ around the place can get too much. Need out? You don’t have to go far. A mere half hour west of the Strip is Red Rock Canyon. According to the folk of Red Rock, it boasts some of the best rock climbing in the country and has some of the most interesting geology in the world.
Tags: Cashing Out / Adventure / Stratosphere / The 90s are Back / → All Tags
Fall Off The Edge of The Stratosphere For $100
Adding to its list of thrill rides The Stratosphere has announced it will let crazy people with a death wish ultimate adventure seekers do a "controlled" free fall off the top of its tower. So it's sort of like bungee jumping but with a lot more tethering going on. (Still, this totally qualifies as The 90s are Back trend.)
The LV Sun reports:
Riders will be given a safety lesson and then get in custom jump suits. They will then be connected to a "descender machine."
After jumping off the tower, riders will be guided by wires to stay on course during the 108-story descent facing the Las Vegas Strip before the descender slows the rider down for a controlled landing.
Stratosphere called the ride "an incredibly safe, yet audacious adventure."
The ride is expected to open in April. About six to 10 jumpers will be accommodated each hour. The ride will be open from 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. Sunday-Thursday and until 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. May we suggest NOT doing this hungover. Thank you very much.
Here's what else is on in Vegas:
· Jon Stewart to perform at The Mirage [The Mirage]
· The ideal golf 'Mancation' in Vegas [MSNBC]
· Haha. Best way to describe town right now: "Nerd Paradise" [Vancouver Sun]
· Elaine Wynn donates a $1 million to Three Square Food Bank [Fox5Vegas]
Tags: Adventure / Car Racing / Summerlin / → All Tags
Zero to 60 in 5.2? Not Quite, But It's Still Fun at The LV Mini Gran Prix
Dudes love fast cars, which makes the Las Vegas Mini Gran Prix in suburban Las Vegas a perfect spot to go with a bunch of buddies.
The family-oriented facility, located waaaaaay off the Strip in Summerlin, offers four go-kart tracks in all—three for grown-ups, and one just for kids. It’s owned by Jerry Barton, whose son, Taylor “The Bomber” Barton, races professionally on the NASCAR circuit and was named the 2005 Rookie of the Year.
Most track experiences cost $6.25 apiece, though there are discounts for buying in bulk. The main attraction is the “Sprint Kart Speedway,” a series of S curves around which visitors can race against each other.
Tags: Valley of Fire / Attractions / Adventure / Active Vegas / → All Tags
Get a Dose of History with The Spectacular Scenery at Valley of Fire
An hour or so from Las Vegas is a spectacular example of why so many East Coasters and international travelers are enamored of the American Southwest. Valley of Fire State Park is located 55 miles northeast of Las Vegas on I-15 (60 miles on the slower, more scenic North Shore Road around Lake Mead).
You may have seen its flamboyant, red sandstone formations north of Lake Mead while flying into town. The landscape is a professional and amateur photographer’s dream, and its historical significance as a site for religious ceremonies, hunting and food gathering for ancient inhabitants of the region make it a winner, too.
Tags: Summer Relief / Lake Mead / Outdoor Vegas / Adventure / → All Tags
Lake Mead Will Always Be An Option For The Summer
Look, you could go the website and read a briefer on the Lake Mead Recreation Area and take what you would need to know. We just want to share you the information of the fun you might have just to get there.
But first, the formalities. it is officially titled the Lake Mead National Recreational Area (say it slowly, it’s a mouthful) and it lies about 35 miles from the heart of Las Vegas. And the beauty to it is that within a 40 minute drive from the infamous Strip, you really are in another world that ends up being that rare thing these days - a rewarding getaway for the whole family.
In the summer, it's pretty hard to top this hotspot of outdoor activity as there is everything from swimming, water skiing, boating, wind sailing and fishing to curb your athletic appetite.
Tags: Adventure / Active Vegas / Thrill Rides / Boulder City / → All Tags
Bootleg Canyon Flightlines for Adrenaline Junkies
About 30 minutes east of Las Vegas is the quaint little hamlet of Boulder City. Among other distinctions, it's one Nevada town that prohibits gaming. Also unlike its Sin City neighbor, it places strict limits on development, so it's retained a small-town feel. It also happens to be home to one particularly wild ride.
Bootleg Canyon Flightlines are high-tech zip lines, essentially, that form an "aerial trail system" from the top of Red Mountain up to 2,250 feet down a canyon that affords views of Lake Mead, Las Vegas and El Dorado Canyon along the way. Speeds can reach 50 miles an hour and your “eco-tourism” guide will be on hand to point out interesting sights along the way. Here’s how the Web site describes the experience:
Suspended from cables and comfortably sitting in a para-gliding harness, you travel from point to point by flying over the desert ecosystem from the top of Red Mountain. Instead of hiking or cycling down the trails, you are exploring the mountain from an aerial trail.
Tags: Only in Vegas / Extreme Vegas / Adventure / Indoor Skydiving / → All Tags
If High-Stakes Gambling Thrills Aren't Enough, There's Always Indoor Skydiving
Thirty-thousand fans can’t be wrong on this one. You read correctly. Roughly 30,000 tourists and locals alike come down to Vegas Indoor Skydiving to partake in one of the most unique and enthralling gigs in Las Vegas.
A mainstay in the city since 1982, Indoor skydiving will give all the g-force thrills you would get with a simulated skydiving experience, but within the safety confines of a mesh trampoline floor and foam padded walls. The bottom line - enjoy the thrill of a freefall without the use of an airplane or parachute.
With a training class, and proper one-on-one instruction, you should be ready to go in no time. They supply you with what looks like a fat suit with considerable padding and then you are subjected to a vertical wind tunnel, with speeds that vary depending on the size and weight of the student - anywhere from 65 to 90 mph. Although the experience lasts an hour, you’ll pack a lot of (no pun intended) proverbial punch within that hour.
Tags: Adventure / Red Rock Canyon / Bike Rides / → All Tags
Sweat Off Your Hangover With A Red Rock Bike Ride
About 30 minutes west of Vegas is the stunning Red Rock Canyon, a national conservation area that seems about as anti-Vegas as you can possibly get.
What we mean by that is you can’t even see the developed part of Las Vegas from behind the canyon walls, so civilization – much less the jangle of casinos – seems far, far away. Plus, there are countless opportunities to engage in wholesome acts of physical exertion, with nary a topless pool nor a yard-long margarita stand in sight.
Tags: Adventure / Pink Jeep Tours / The Grand Canyon / → All Tags
You Don't Have to Be Barbie to Take the Pink Jeep Tours
Pink Jeep Tours might not sound like the manliest adventure activity to do off the Strip but if you're keen on seeing the Grand Canyon up close we highly recommend taking a ride in one of their bubble-gum pink vehicles. Remember, real men can wear pink.
Pink Jeep Tours has just added a second tour to the natural wonder, and this one goes beyond your standard Grand Canyon fare to include the West Rim's Quartermaster Point; Pink Jeep Tours is currently the only one to be granted access here.
Named after O.G. Howland, a Quartermaster in the Union Army, this spot is distinguished by its super remote nature, which means you aren't likely to encounter crowds while enjoying your panoramic views of the Colorado River.
Oh, and you also won't encounter handrails or fences, so you'll probably want to leave your flask, and your propensity for comedic pratfalls, back at the hotel (Pink Jeep Tours doesn't offer helicopter rescue as part of their package).
Tags: Rides / Adventure / → All Tags
Taking Vegas for a Ride
Spend any amount of time at a Las Vegas craps table and you’re bound to feel your stomach rise up into your chest and then tumble down to your toes at some point. Losing five dollars on the pass line after the roller craps out without making the point will do that to you.
But if you crave that stomach-churning sensation feeling for reasons other than the excitement—and inevitable disappointment—of gaming, there is many a place to satisfy your inner thrill-seeker on the Strip.
Tags: Helicopter Tours / The Grand Canyon / Luxury Tours / Adventure / → All Tags
Do Some 'Flightseeing' Over The Grand Canyon
Forget sightseeing. How about "flightseeing?" Yeah, with the word “flight” in there, it’s gonna be a step up from sightseeing.
Helicopter tours will take any old, normal, standard sightseeing adventure up a notch. Papillon Helicopters and Grand Canyon Airlines/Scenic Airlines is one of the largest helicopter tour companies around, with a $9 million, 30,000-square-foot terminal to prove it. Their “flightseeing” services range from flying over the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Lake Meade, and Sedona, Arizona, among other destinations.
Tour options range from the Grand Celebration Tour, a four-hour tour from your hotel to the Grand Canyon and back with a picnic lunch served, for $334 per person, to the Colorado River Voyage, which includes an 11-mile ride down the Colorado River in a motorized boat in addition to the helicopter tour over the Grand Canyon, for $444.
It might seem pricey, but the site actually points you to the “Plan Your Trip” page, where those browsing can get up to 70% off. So if you’re planning a trip to the Grand Canyon, a flightseeing trip might be the best way to experience it.
Tags: Helicopter Tours / The Grand Canyon / Luxury Tours / Adventure / → All Tags
Experience Luxury at the Grand Canyon. Yes, Really.
The Grand Canyon is one of the most beautiful natural sights in the U.S., and it’s a mere four hours from Las Vegas by car. But why spend all that time in a stuffy car sitting through traffic at the Hoover Dam and in the middle of nowhere Arizona to see the canyon? And once you get to the canyon you've got to battle other tourists for parking spaces, picture-taking and other disturbances. That’s no way to travel. Why not make it easy on everyone and splurge on a helicopter flight down to the Grand Canyon?
