It is hot in the summer.
For any longtime Southern Nevadan, that’s no surprise, but just about everyone has their spot to escape to.
If only for the day, or maybe a weekend, Las Vegas is a fantastic launching point for many cooler destinations. For this list, we’ll bring you a few of our own underrated recommendations, as well as those from folks who spend a lot of time in the desert sun.
In no particular order:
Lake Arrowhead, California
3-hour, 45-minute drive
Forget Big Bear! (Just kidding, it’s gorgeous there, too.) But not too far away is Lake Arrowhead, home to a lovely dining, shopping and entertainment village with 50 storefronts, as well as your typical summer lake activities, an arboretum, skypark, museum and wildlife sanctuary. Don’t pass up the Lake Arrowhead Queen boat tour, and take some time to explore the surrounding San Bernardino National Forest (the “Alps of Southern California”) with summer temperatures in the 70s and 80s.
Williams, Arizona
3-hour, 20-minute drive
The gateway to the Grand Canyon is along historic Route 66 and, more importantly, at a higher elevation. Enjoy the historic downtown district, nearby lakes and parks and ample campground space. Our recommendation: Take the kids to Bearizona, a drive-thru wildlife park. Drive slowly and carefully to get a look at bears, wolves, bison, burrows, bighorn sheep, deer and more.
Cave Lake State Park, Nevada
4-hour drive
Just outside Ely, Cave Lake is one of many parks you’ll find in the area. Enter for only $5 for boating, hiking, wildlife watching, kayaking, camping, fishing, camping and just about any other outdoor summer activity at this 32-acre reservoir. If you camp (where temperatures sometimes dip into the 40s at night through summer), enjoy some of the darkest skies in America.
Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah
4-hour drive
Wave hello and goodbye to the lines at Zion as you cruise by to Bryce, where the average high in July is 79 degrees. Here, scope out the largest concentration of hoodoos (irregular rock columns) in the world, enjoy unreal hikes to stunning overlooks, check out park programming, camp within the park and look up at the park’s dark skies at night.
Hualapai Mountain Park, Arizona
2-hour drive
During the summer, outdoor lovers have three options: stay inside, explore at night or find cooler elevations. This site is good for a day trip and offers similar experiences to those heading to Mount Charleston, with conifer trees and some small springs that attract wildlife.
The park offers a variety of recreation opportunities. It’s close enough to be a day trip, but it has dry camping, RV and cabin rental options for overnighters. Nature and bird lovers might notice plants and animals that are absent in the Spring Mountains, with chances to see birds such as zone-tailed hawks and acorn woodpeckers and perhaps mammals such as javelinas and black bears.
— Alex Harper, birding guide, biologist and conservationist
Spring Mountain Ranch State Park, Las Vegas
30-minute drive from downtown
Catching a Super Summer Theatre show at Spring Mountain Ranch State Park! Grab a picnic basket and a bottle of wine, lay out a blanket and enjoy quality community theater with family and friends and the unmatched background of Red Rock Canyon.
— Justin Jones, Clark County commissioner
Spring Mountains, Las Vegas
45-minute drive
I would recommend the South Loop Trail (next to Cathedral Rock) in Mount Charleston; it’s not a popular trail, and it’s very underrated. The views from that trail are stunning. It’s a great place to avoid the summer heat, and an even better trail to see the leaves turn colors in the fall! This trail goes all the way up to Griffith Peak if you want an all-day adventure.
— Kiara Ringgenberg/@hikingwithkiara, avid hiker and kayak guide
Whitney Portal, California
4-hour drive
My personal favorite is, at first blush, a little counterintuitive. I like to drive right through the heart of the blast furnace that is Death Valley in summer on Highway 190, stopping periodically to watch the heat shimmer above Mesquite Sand Dunes and above the Panamint Valley. At the end of an epic afternoon ride through the park awaits the cool heights of Whitney Portal. Whitney Portal is a campground nestled high in the Sierra Nevada mountains in California. Replete with cold running streams, hulking granite boulders, and towering pines, Whitney Portal offers a delightful respite from the heat of the Mojave. An evening “leg stretch” up to Lone Pine Lake is a perfect cherry on top.
— Mason Voehl, executive director, Amargosa Conservancy
Contact Kristen Di Chiara at [email protected].