Here at Atlas Obscura, we have a fondness for the forbidden, a hunger for the hidden, a gusto for the grim. (You get the point.) But it wouldn’t be so intrepid to simply highlight Nevada’s underbelly, would it?
There’s more to the state than extraterrestrial-themed brothels and nuclear bomb test sites. Kids and grandparents might enjoy enormous Ferris wheels, unusual geysers, or pristine parklands. Even Nevada—home to Sin City—has a family-friendly side.
This strange-looking geyser may look like some kind of hostile alien landscape, but it actually owes its splashy hues to heat-loving algae, thriving after an innocent-enough drilling gaffe. The site is home to two geysers, one of which shot to life in the first quarter of the 20th century. Locals found it too scalding to use for irrigation. The second geyser sprouted in the 1960s, when a geothermal energy company started drilling for super-hot reservoirs. When the 200-degree water wasn't quite hot enough for them, they tried to cover it up and failed, leaving this steamy, technicolor statue as a bizarre natural monument. (Read more.)
County Rd 34, Gerlach, NV 89412
This meditative art installation by James Turrell submerges you in a womb-like world of mono-color. The saturated environment is trippy enough that you'll completely forget it's located just above a Louis Vuitton store. (Read more.)
3720 Las Vegas Blvd South, Suite 103, Las Vegas, NV 89109
This nearly century-old exhibit features a delightful display of cartoonishly innocent, 1930s-era infotainment outlining the dam’s facilities. You may recognize it from the 2007 Transformers movie. (Read more.)
Hoover Dam Access Road, Boulder City, NV 89005
With smooth, gnarled trunks, these isolated trees—nestled within a Nevada national park—might look dead. In fact, they're the longest-living non-clonal organisms on Earth. (Read more.)
100 Great Basin National Park, Baker, NV 89311
Godless acts of sin and debauchery on the ground will hardly be visible from the top of the world’s tallest Ferris wheel, which soars 550 feet high. A thousand people can ride at once, packed into 28 cars. (Read more.)
3545 Las Vegas Blvd South, Las Vegas, NV 89109
There’s not much along this stretch of road from California to Maryland that could lead you to trouble. In fact, there’s not much of anything at all: Framed primarily by flat fields, with the occasional town or low-rolling hills, it's easy to see how this stretch earned the dubious distinction of the "Loneliest Road in America." (Read more.)
U.S. Highway 50, Austin, NV 89310
Don't let the pricks get to you at one of the largest collections of cacti and succulents in the world. It’s also right next to a candy factory, so you can grab some sweets—even a boozy-flavored chocolate—to savor as you explore over 300 species. (Read more.)
2 Cactus Garden Dr, Henderson, NV 89014
Nothing edgy about this place—it’s just a vast expanse of rolling sand. The sweeping swath is what remains of Lake Lahontan, which sat on the site some 10,000 years ago. The largest dune stretches roughly two miles long and 600 feet high. (Read more.)
Fallon, NV 89406
Free your family from the clutches of trans fats and film-franchise children's toys at the place farthest from any McDonald's location in the contiguous United States. From here, you're 135 miles from the closest Big Mac. (Read more.)
McFarthest Spot, Tonopah, Nevada, United States, 89049
Enjoy cowboy slam poetry and horsehair hitching—a handicraft made by twisting a horse's tail hairs together—at this immersive cultural center that conjures a world before the advent of iPads, legalized recreational marijuana use, and drive-through Starbucks. (Read more.)
501 Railroad St #306, Elko, NV 89801
One of the most remote wilderness plots in the country is also home to a range of wild animals, alpine forests, and fields of wildflowers. Just keep an eye out for Tsawhawbitts, the man-eating giant that the Shoshone tribe believed to roam the 113,000-acre landscape. (Read more.)
Jarbidge, Nevada United States