Sometimes when you head to Vegas, you have been so many times that you want to do something different, or maybe it is a different type of trip, and getting out to explore the USA around the state is something that you are able to do. Well these are the three bucket list places to visit if you have the time to do so.
Grand Canyon, Arizona
3 hour drive from Las Vegas
It's essential to visit the Grand Canyon as it is one of the wonders of the world and it is a real eye opener! The weather is usually nice, but the best time to visit is when it is a little cooler, so in early spring, when you can enjoy the winter climate in this warm, desert climate. To experience the desert climate, it will involve some physical exercise as you will want to hike down one of the many photogenic, canyon routes. Hint: The ascent to plateau point is the best walk and it will get you about 2/3 of the way to the Colorado River.
Sierra Nevada's and Sequoia National Park: The General Sherman Tree, California
6 hour drive from Vegas
Found in Central California, the Sierra Nevada's are a mountain chain that contain the highest mountain - Mount Whitney at 14,505 ft - in the continental USA. People do climb it but it will take you about two days so you could do it on a road trip, you would just have to plan for it. Besides this mountain, there is Sequoia National Park which features that largest tree on earth - The General Sherman Tree - at 274 feet tall and a circumference over 100 feet.
White Sands National Monument, New Mexico
10 hour drive from Vegas
Imagine white sand dunes as high as three stories that seem to go on for miles upon miles; it is quite the sight to see! If you are interested in space travel, then found near the town of Alamogordo is the White Sands Space Harbor where some of the space shuttles have landed. Another popular site is found in the Chihuahuan Desert in the Tularosa basin where the Trinity Test Site is. Here is where the first nuclear fission bomb was tested before being dropped on Japan.
Road trips do require quite a bit of planning and you will want to make sure that you have some paper maps with you incase GPS fails or you cannot charge your devices. You will also want to make sure you have an emergency kit in the car in case anything happens and strands you because depending on what route you take, you may not see any other people or cars for an extremely long period of time. However, taking a road trip can be the best way to see the USA as so many travellers just stick to the main cities and skip the smaller towns especially those that popped up around the highways / freeways. Enjoy your travel!
