As others have said, Valley of Fire. Be sure to get off the bike at Mouse' Tank and hike thru the narrow canyon. The ancient native petroglyphs are worth the walk.
This ^.
If you've only got one day, Valley of Fire is the place to go. The scenery is stunning.
Tips: The easiest route in is 564 Lakeshore Rd from Henderson. turn left onto 167 Northshore Rd. This leads to Lake Mead Natl Rec Area. Bring some cash. There is an entrance fee of $15 (motorcycle) payable at the ranger shack. Valley of Fire is a State Park with the Natl Rec Area. It has a use fee of $10, but its self-pay on the honor system.
Watch out for the little yellow 'recommended' speed signs on curves. Best to pay attention and obey them. There are lots of curves with no guard rails. Some of the ditches are pretty deep.
Pack a lunch, you'll be glad you did. Add two extra water bottles. There are a few rest-stop style restrooms along the way, but not much else. Miles and miles of fun curves and beautiful scenery.
Top off your tank in Henderson before you go into the park. You'll need sunglasses and a long sleeve shirt or jacket. Sunburn will get you even if you feel cool. Dont forget your face and the back of your neck.
If you take the road out of the park to the northwest instead of going back the way you came, you'll come out at I-15 at a casino truck stop called Moapa Pauite Travel Plaza. Take I-15 back to Vegas.
We rented 4 bikes from Escape Eagle and had an excellent experience. The guys there were very accommodating. As I recall the cost was right at $850 for 8 days. Also, they didn't require a $2000 hold on a credit card, just one days rental.
Valley of Fire is a good trip. Swing out by Lake Meade and ride along the shore road on your way to VoF. Hoover Dam is also a day trip. If you're into things mechanical it's pretty interesting if you take the tour into the turbine room.
Also Red Rock Canyon is only 16 miles outside Vegas so that would be a good 2-3 hour trip.
I'll be riding to Vegas (from LA) for a weekend bowing thing in March. I like bowing, but I don't care for gambling. You guys have convinced me that a little ride is in order.
I've never done the Valley of Fire/Lakeshore ride before. 160 miles, I can do that in the morning and be back for bowing at 2pm.
Nothing better that an early morning ride in the desert.
BTW, I hate the 15 (or any other interstate), so I get to Vegas via OC to the 60, to the 10, 62 to 29 Palms, then north to Amboy, continuing north to Kelso, northeast to Searchlight, and then into Vegas.
Wife and I are trailering my bike and her Trike down from Canada to Lauglin Nevada end of this week. We take 3 days to get down. Store truck and trailer and ride for the next 10 days or so around Arizona, Nevada and California. Have done this several times and it's beautiful in February. (0r at least has been ). We have lots of friends who stay most of winter there and they mostly take their bikes too so lots of fun. The ride to Oatman is great and that is original Route 66 pavement. The Salton sea , 29 palms, Joshua tree etc etc. So much to see ! You are going to want to come back for longer. Trust me.
Since you're going to ride Lake Shore Drive to Valley of Fire you can turn-around at the end of Valley of Fire so you get the views both ways and ride back to Lake Shore; turn Left and head into Overton which is a small town and grab food at Sugars Home Plate. At that point you can either keep going the way you were and you'll hit I15 or turn around and take Lake Shore back again; which is what I typically do. Easy day ride
Been to Vegas twice by bike and it is a pain in the *** riding in town. The stoplights take forever to change and it was hot as hell when I was there. With the mandatory helmet on I was baking. Rode down the Strip at midnight, just to say we did it, and it was still baking hot out. This was in early June but the last time I went it was late April and it was still very warm and uncomfortable to ride around the city. Make sure you bring your own helmet or you will need to rent/get one at the dealer when you rent your bike as Nevada is a helmet state.
01-27-2017, 09:52 PM
