Although the vast majority of people never venture further than Sin City’s glitzy casinos, nightclubs and showrooms, Nevada has much more to offer than just adult entertainment and gambling. While fun slot machines and table games can also be enjoyed at Reno and Carson City, the rest of the state is awash with stupendous desert scenery, canyons and rock formations that conjure up images of the Wild West.
Set in the southwest corner of the US, Nevada is nestled in between California and Utah with both Oregon and Idaho lying to the north and Arizona to the southeast. While almost all its arid landmass lies within the Great Basin, the southern third consists of the Mojave Desert with various mountain ranges also crisscrossing the state.
Due to its unforgiving environment, Nevada is very sparsely populated with over three-quarters of its residents living in Las Vegas; the ‘Entertainment Capital of the World’. Home to umpteen casinos and nightclubs, it has myriad superb shops and restaurants to try out while spellbinding shows and performances take place each night of the week in its humongous hotels.
Aside from all the Strip’s enticing attractions and the extravagant resorts and entertainment options of Reno, there are interesting gold rush and frontier era sites to see in Carson City and Virginia City, with the eerie ghost towns of Ely also being well worth checking out.
Very popular spots to relax, unwind and enjoy some outdoor activities or watersports are the lovely Lake Tahoe in the west and the massive Lake Mead in the southeast that lies alongside the iconic Hoover Dam. On top of this, the otherworldly landscapes of both Valley of Fire State Park and Red Rock Canyon are not to be missed, with Great Basin and Death Valley national parks also attracting lots of outdoor aficionados.
Map of Nevada
