7/31 & 8/2 2004. Just west of Vegas is a spectacular desert recreation area; a 13 mile one-way road allows you to cruise through, enjoying the scenery from air-conditioned bliss, or stepping out for a looksee at various small parking lots scattered around the circuit. There are also trails for the more adventurous. Our first visit was at dusk on Saturday evening. The weather was perfect, cool, with a wonderful breeze, and the fading light doing all sorts of beautiful things to the rock formations. The park closes at 8, so we had to rush out, but we enjoyed it so much that few days later we went back in the morning for a more thorough hike, around the Willow Springs/Lost Creek trail systems. Just as we were leaving, it started getting very dark, and actually rained down buckets once we reached town.
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