Nevada: Deserts, Cities, and Beyond

When you think of Nevada, what's the first thing to pop into mind? Their interstates, of course! Among the busiest in the nation, they're also some of the safest, which is crucial for a state that thrives off of its tourism, welcoming visitors from all over the world to the Hoover Dam, the myriad of beautiful state parks, and Area 51. Just kidding—we all know the first thing people think of is the infamous Las Vegas! While countless videos, features, blogs, and travel articles cover "Sin City," we wanted to talk about the things you might not know about Nevada. Let's talk about Nevada's interstates, parks, and a few memorable stops!

Nevada's interstates rank fifteenth in the nation for daily travel volume, making them among America's busiest highways. Between the years 2000 to 2019, Nevada's interstate travel increased 69%, making funding more important than ever as 70% of our nation's freight uses Nevada's highways in the supply chain. Since breakdowns to the Interstate Highway System end up costing up to $75 billion annually, infrastructure maintenance receives careful monitoring. However, Nevada is really setting the bar for highway safety. Their interstate design features a four-lane minimum, separation from all other roads and rail lines, paved shoulders and median barriers—making them twice as safe as other roadways. According to TRIP, a national transportation research nonprofit, "The fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles of travel on Nevada's Interstate in 2019 was 0.66, compared to 1.18 on the state's non-Interstate routes." Travelers can journey confidently across Nevada's mountains and plains, knowing they're on thoughtfully designed roadways.

Road trippers can find one of the state's wonders right along the border: Lake Tahoe. Nestled between California and Nevada in the Sierra Mountains, it’s the largest lake in the nation aside from the Great Lakes, as well as the second deepest. This 2-million-year-old lake attacts about 3 million visitors a year. Visitors come to marvel at the view, since Lake Tahoe is not only surrounded by awe-inspiring scenery but is the second clearest lake in the nation and the fifth clearest in the entire world. The water is 99.994% pure, making it nearly as pure as distilled water (at 99.998%). Lake Tahoe was even designated as an Outstanding National Resource Water under the federal Clean Water Act.

Nevada is also known for its magnificent sandstone features. Sixteen miles south of Overton lies the Valley of Fire State Park, a 46,000-acre nature preserve. Nevada's oldest state park, it was designated a national landmark in 1968. The name comes from the giant red rock formations, made of 150-million-year-old Aztec Sandstone. When the sun hits these rock formations, they appear to be on fire, which is quite a sight to see in the Mojave Desert. If you can't get enough of the Aztec Sandstone but don't necessarily need to witness its fiery glare, there's the Red Rock Canyon, located outside of Las Vegas. This canyon features formations that stand thousands of feet high and date back180 million years. Red Rock Canyon is also a great place to see unusual geological elements like iron concretions, limestone, and fossilized dinosaur tracks!

Just thirty minutes away from the Red Rock Canyon lies Las Vegas. Though the Entertainment Capital of the World has a long, rich origin story, the city itself was officially born in 1905 and incorporated in 1911. When Nevada legalized casino gambling in 1931 and began construction of the Hoover Dam, Las Vegas managed to avoid the economic devastation of the Great Depression. After World War II, lavish hotels and gambling casinos became a part of Las Vegas's fame. A significant milestone came in 1955 when the Moulin Rouge Hotel opened as the first racially integrated hotel-casino. This sparked a wave of development as corporations and business tycoons like Howard Hughes established their own hotel-casino properties throughout the 1960s. To soften the stigma of gambling, it was rebranded as "gaming." Now, Las Vegas is world-renowned for its tourism industry, seeing over 40 million visitors a year, and is considered a major resort city for its hospitality industry, entertainment, gaming, and more, and remains one of the world's top tourism destinations.

Las Vegas may not have turned into the legendary destination it is today if not for the construction of the Hoover Dam. Between 1931 and 1936, Franklin D. Roosevelt started its construction during the Great Depression: a project that claimed over 100 lives but employed thousands of workers. The goal was to provide irrigation water, control floods, and produce hydroelectric power through the construction of an unprecedented concrete structure. Though Las Vegas at the time only had a population of about 5,000, the project drew 10,000–20,000 unemployed workers to the area. A government camp was formed for the workers of the site. A squatter's camp then formed outside of the official camp, filled with unemployed men and their families hoping to be hired. Another camp, known as "Ragtown," formed for the employees who couldn't fit into the government camp but were still working on the Hoover Dam. This influx of people, development of numerous camps, and mix of workers, unemployed men, and their families caused Las Vegas to grow exponentially faster and also helped protect the city from the worst effects of the Great Depression.

Our science-fiction fans are probably wondering why we haven't talked about Area 51. While there is plenty written about Area 51, most of it is lore and hearsay. Still a highly confidential military base, Area 51 started as a testing facility and eventually gained a cult fanbase for supposedly housing extraterrestrials and alien technology. Though people often try to "visit" Area 51, all tourists can really experience is the 15-mile border of highly surveilled military security. Locals have definitely added more excitement to this venture by creating tours that include a drive on the “Extraterrestrial Highway,” a Joshua Tree Forest, and some fun alien-themed stops along the way, most notably the Little A’le’Inn, the filming location for several documentaries and the film, Independence Day!

Whether you're taking a sip of the crystal-clear waters of Lake Tahoe, witnessing sandstone formations from millions of years ago, staying up late on the Las Vegas Strip, marveling at the engineering feat of Hoover Dam, or just driving out to the desert to try and catch a glimpse of an alien at Area 51, remember that Interstate Signways marked the way!