Being members of Thousand Trails with the Zone Camping Pass we noticed they had an RV Park in Las Vegas so drove up from our boondocking haunts in Arizona to the Bright Lights, Big City. I wasn’t sure what to expect having only ever flown into Vegas like millions of others do each year. Visiting with an RV was never on my radar. As it turns out though it’s been a very relaxing fun experience.
Our Thousand Trails Park is on Boulder Highway just south of the old downtown area and not far at all from the start of the big strip. The area itself is fairly seedy but the RV Park has great security. There are at least a half-dozen or so other RV Parks scattered along Boulder Highway, many of them tied to hotel casinos. We visited both the old downtown area on Fremont Street and the main strip with all the big hotels. Getting around was super easy. It is a fifteen minute drive from our park to the Stratosphere Hotel, where they have a giant free parking garage, then we use the buses that constantly drive up and down the strip. $8 dollars for 24 hours or $20 dollars for 3 day pass.
For us gambling isn’t a big thing as we are extremely unlucky so we played the penny slots and mostly wandered about gawking at the spectacle and grandeur that is Las Vegas. The place amazes me at how fast it changes, we visited maybe 6-7 years ago and in that time a half-dozen huge new hotels have sprung up and there is new higher tech signage everywhere. Anne and I went down near sunset and photographed as the strip lights came on and took in the famous water fountain show at the Bellagio Hotel. Another thing that has really improved is the pedestrian infrastructure. No more dashing across Las Vegas Boulevard dodging cabs and tourists, now they have many more pedestrian over passes to keep cars and walkers separated.
Also while here in Las Vegas we took a trip out to see the world-famous Hoover Dam. The dam is only 1/2 hour drive from our RV Park and made a nice day trip. They have a large newer bridge where Highway 93 crosses the Colorado River and gives you a great vantage point to view the amazing engineering accomplishment. We skipped the inside tours this time as I had enough of people and crowds by this point and choose to hike all around the dam area viewing it from different angles. After the Hoover dam visit we drove along the Lake Mead National Recreational Area stopping for a picnic lunch to cap off the day.
We had a fun RV stop in Las Vegas and hope to return again as the city has so much to offer and is much more convenient to bring an RV to than I imagined.
