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| - If you find yourself with increasing night blindness from all the casino hopping you've been doing on the Strip, you may want to consider a detour to Red Rock Canyon. The chief appeal is its proximity to Vegas proper, probably about a twenty-minute drive west of the Strip on Charleston Blvd past a whole lot of suburban sprawl. It gives you a vivid albeit modest taste of the pleasures to be had in the canyon country that dominates this part of the state as well as northern Arizona and southern Utah.
I say "modest taste" because the formations are not all that dramatic compared to, say, the Valley of Fire about two hours away. However, the views can be striking, even from the pullouts off the thirteen-mile scenic road. There are only three or four stops that are genuinely worthwhile for further exploring, but frankly, that's enough since you have a hot pair of dice waiting for you back at the craps table. There is a $5 entrance fee, and it leads directly to the worthwhile visitors' center with the big lizard sculpture in the middle of the floor.
By the way, the drive actually doesn't cut through Red Rock Canyon. What you're really seeing are the Wilson Cliffs. You can get to the real canyon only by four-wheel drive. There's your trivia. Regardless, there are plenty of photographic opportunities (see mine among the hundreds in the gallery), and face it, you were down $800 at the tables and needed a respite to avoid the sharks anyway. There are a lot of hiding spots between them there rocks. I'm just speculating, of course.
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