my girlfriend and i want to drive to vegas in the spring. and we want to do some 4x4ing. can anybody recomend some events or group rides in or around vegas. we're thinking march or april,

About a half-hour west of Las Vegas out Charleston Blvd (which will turn into Blue Diamond Road) is Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land called Red Rocks. It's a collection of about a dozen sandstone canyons which are truly gorgeous. I used to do a whole lot of rock-climbing out there. The primary areas are "stay-on-the-road-only", however, there are (or used to be anyway...it's been about 9 years since I've been there) a couple areas which were okay for off-road. All over the area you can see wild burros and occasionally you can spot big-horn sheep. I've also seen herds of wild horses out there. If you want to do some off-roading, head west of Vegas to Red Rocks and follow the road which sweeps back down south and further to the south-east where in a few miles it intersects with Highway 160. Take 160 West toward Pahrump (Pahrump is actually where Art Bell lives, if you know who he is) a couple miles and there should be some unmarked gravel roads off to the right which will take you out to Black Velvet Canyon. If you're into rock climbing, one of the more popular and scenic climbing routes is called "Frogland" and is back into the depths of Black Velvet Canyon. The base of Frogland can only be reached by hiking over rough terrain on foot for about two miles or so IIRC and it's about a five-pitch route ranging from about 5.7-5.9 or so in difficulty. You can climb any of hundreds of routes throughout all of Red Rocks but Black Velvet is far enough out of the way to afford you lots of privacy. If you're not into climbing you can do some wheeling back in there also. Keep in mind it's been several years since I've been out there so accessibility may have changed.

thanks! i'll look into it. we'de like to meet up with a group in the area. we were thinking of doing some camping at the same time. if anyone is planning 1-2 day trips let me know. we've never 4x4'd in a desert.

thanks

Vegas is also 80 miles from Mojave Desert National Monument and 150 miles from Death Valley National Park.

If you have never been out West I recommend DV, there are some cool easy places you go go offroad and not worry about having two trucks due to traffic. Drive the 30 mile road out to the famous "Racetrack" where the rocks move by themselves. As always carry lots of water,10 gallons and that is just for a day trip. You don't want to end up like those German tourist a few years ago <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/evil.gif" alt="" />

There is a lot of easy wheeling, 4wd recommended but I see lots of rental cars <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" /> There are also tough trails but you would want to go with a group.

If your in Vegas, head North on 95 to Beatty, hang a left on 374. Visit Rhyolite Ghost town then pick up Titus Canyon marked "one way" on the DV map below. When your finished with Titus head North to Ubehebe Crater ( pay your park fee ) then head down the road to the Racetrack which are the photos below. There are of course lots of cool places to visit on the paved roads, make sure you swing by the Sand Dunes.





Big DV map in PDF format Death Valley Map

AWSOME! those pics look amazing. you guys have given us some great info. i'll keep looking on the site for any other tips. Can't wait to go now!

Look me up in southern Idaho on your way down! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

Couple of Red Rocks sites (again, climbing oriented):

http://www.gdargaud.net/Climbing/Nevada.html

http://www.supertopo.com/climbingareas/redrocks.html