We were told about the Scenic Loop which is near the visitors center (a 13 mile one way scenic drive of the Mojave Desert), so we attempted to drive straight through. it just so happened that our resort, Red Rock Casino Resort and Spa ( watch or read about it), was literally 6 miles away and we had an amazing view from our room, of the canyons themselves! I can't tell you how many times we have been to Vegas and never even knew this place existed! Anyway, long story short, we decided to just drive up in the canyon area and see what there was to do up there. On our most recent vacation, we weren't sure what to do in Vegas, but we knew we wanted to be outdoors for a good portion of it, and we didn't want to drive more than 30 minutes to find our outdoors hike.
