Richard N. Velotta
VEGAS INC Coverage
When I lived in Flagstaff, Ariz., I was always astonished to run into a local resident who had never been to the Grand Canyon.
Every year, people travel thousands of miles to see what arguably is the most spectacular natural attraction on the planet. Yet there were people who lived just over an hour away and had never been there.
I made it my quest to see as much of the Grand Canyon as I could and to head all directions in the state to see all of Arizona.
Now, I’m a Nevadan and I made it my objective to see as much of this state as I can.
Lucky for me, with relatives in Elko and children attending the University of Nevada, I’ve been able to put together side trips to some of the places many of us have heard about but few have seen.
Over the years, I’ve made it to about half of Nevada’s 24 state parks, driven the “Loneliest Road” (U.S. 50 across the center of the state), the Extraterrestrial Highway (Nevada State Route 375) and hiked and explored national parks on the state’s western border (Death Valley), eastern border (Great Basin) and southern tip (Lake Mead).
One of these days, I’ll get to Black Rock Desert and find my way to the Fly Geyser. Nevada is blessed with remarkably rugged beauty, north and south. Visitors to our state often discover this by accident when they stumble upon our scenery when indulging in the attractions that make us famous worldwide, the Las Vegas Strip.
How many of the thousands of Southern Nevada residents have never seen Valley of Fire or Cathedral Gorge state parks? Both are easy day trips from Las Vegas. How many have never checked out the spring blooms in Death Valley or the sand dunes near Amargosa?
Only recently had I made my first visit to Nelson. It’s only an hour away from home and it’s a scenic and historic treasure.
While getting to every state park is one of my goals, my son aspires to bigger things. He’s trying to visit each of the 270 historical site markers scattered across the state, and he’s made it to 228 of them.
There are plenty of other treasures out there, and the Nevada Tourism Commission is spending the next few weeks promoting Nevada to Nevadans. It’s called Discover Your Nevada, and it’s a popularity contest to find the state’s hidden tourism gems.
Last week, the Tourism Commission closed nominations for the top tourism treasures and posted them on its website — travelnevada.com/discover. Now, it’s encouraging people to vote for their favorites in an “American Idol”-style elimination round.
To make things a little easier, the commission has grouped attractions within the state’s six tourism territories: Las Vegas (the southern tip), Nevada Silver Trails (the region north of Las Vegas to about the middle of the state), Pony Express (a broad swath just north of the center of the state), Cowboy Country (the northernmost region) and Reno-Tahoe (a strip along the western border). The sixth, Indian Territory, comprises the whole state and focuses on traditional lands of the Washoe, Paiute and Shoshone tribes.
Last time I looked, there were 89 tourism treasures nominated in Las Vegas Territory alone. The first round of voting ends March 25 and will trim the list to 20 attractions per territory. Second-round voting ends April 8. Three more rounds conclude May 13, and the top treasures will be announced May 15.
One of the cool aspects of the promotion is that Gov. Brian Sandoval is getting involved in it. No doubt, he’ll need a vacation after grinding through economic diversification issues and getting beaten up by conservative members of his Republican Party and Democratic leaders and unions for his decision to support extending taxes set to expire.
Sandoval is planning two spring road trips to boost Discover Your Nevada. He plans to blog about his adventures.
In the meantime, vote early and often for the state’s tourism treasures. Better yet, plan a trip to a part of the state you’ve never seen. The state’s tourism website is filled with great suggestions.