Nevada Parks and Natural Landscapes

Featured Nevada locations are listed below, and shown on the Nevada map - these are the most scenic locations in this relatively little-visted state, and include canyons, deserts, lakes, mountains, eroded rock formations and scenic drives.

Nevada National and State Parks

Cathedral Gorge State Park

Lake Tahoe Nevada SP

Red Rock Canyon

CATHEDRAL GORGE State Park - fantastic eroded rock formations with narrow ravines and caves

DEATH VALLEY National Park - starkly beautiful desert wilderness contained within the largest NPS preserve outside Alaska (described in the California section)

GREAT BASIN National Park - isolated mountains featuring varied climate zones, limestone caverns, a glacier and far reaching views over the Great Basin Desert

LAKE MEAD National Recreation Area - extensive desert region centered around a large lake on the Colorado River, formed by Hoover Dam (described in the Arizona section)

LAKE TAHOE NEVADA State Park - sandy beaches on the east shore of Lake Tahoe, plus hiking trails and backcountry lakes

RED ROCK CANYON National Conservation Area - red cliffs and canyons in the Spring Mountains just west of Las Vegas

VALLEY OF FIRE State Park - weathered landscape of red, yellow and pink sandstone, close to Lake Mead. Park also has petrified dunes, narrow canyons, sheer cliffs and petroglyphs

Other Scenic Places

Black Rock Desert

Las Vegas

Scenic Drives

ASH MEADOWS National Wildlife Refuge - large springs at the edge of the Mojave Desert, including Devils Hole

BLACK ROCK DESERT - epitome of Nevada's basin and range landscapes; a vast dry lake bed in the remote northwest, home to the Burning Man festival

LAS VEGAS - the reason why most people visit Nevada

LAKE TAHOE - major center for recreation, surrounded by high granite peaks of the Sierra Nevada mountains (described in the California section)

LUNAR CRATER National Natural Landmark - volcanic formations in a very remote part of central Nevada

MOUNT CHARLESTON - 11,918 foot peak in the Spring Mountains near Las Vegas, popular for hiking, camping and skiing

PYRAMID LAKE - saline lake in the remote deserts of the northwest, surrounded by sagebrush flats, scattered tufa formations and desolate mountains

SCENIC DRIVES - long, scenic highways across Nevada: I-80, US 50, US 93, NV 305, NV 375 (the 'Extraterrestrial Highway') and NV 376

WHITNEY POCKETS - colorful desert area north of Lake Mead, featuring unusual eroded formations of deep red sandstone

Nevada Hotels

Choose from over 150 Nevada hotels in 21 towns and cities; maps, park hotels, interstate hotels and brand directories

Major locations include:

Carson City, Elko, Fallon, Fernley, Henderson, Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, Reno, Sparks, Winnemucca

Other Nevada Resources

Driving Distances - mileages between selected places
Introduction - brief summary of Nevada's scenic areas
Maps - state map and national park maps
Weather - forecasts for Nevada towns, cities and parks

Site Search

Nevada Travel Itineraries

Great Basin Desert - a loop around the edge of America's largest desert, visiting such places as Antelope Island, Black Rock Desert, Bodie, Cathedral Gorge, Mono Lake, Pyramid Lake, Warner Valley and Great Basin National Park

Nevada Photography

Photographs - indexed by location
Panoramic Photographs - wide landscape photos
QTVR - quicktime panoramas

Photograph Search

Plants of Nevada

Cacti - photos and descriptions of 18 Nevada cactus species; genera are cylindropuntia, echinocactus, echinocereus, ferocactus, mammillaria, opuntia and pediocactus

Flowers - Nevada wildflowers and flowering shrubs; photographs and identifying characteristics, arranged by the most common color groups (blue, orange, pink, purple, red, white and yellow)