My name is Sire Pro and I’m going into my senior year at UO. I’m originally from Las Vegas, Nevada, and growing up there I spent a lot of time exploring the desert in the southern part of the state (around Area 51…kinda wish I had been abducted by aliens).
Even though its a desert with seemingly nothing for miles, there is a surprising amount of wildlife out there. I got really into birdwatching when I was in high school and that became one of the main activities I’d do. You’d see a lot of bald eagles, red-tailed hawks, longspurs, bluebirds, and phainopepla. Another common sight are cows, horses, and donkeys, all wild, and they’re usually extremely friendly and will come up to your car/camp/whatever setup you have.
There are also a lot of ghost mining towns complete with open mines, old cars and equipment, and abandoned buildings from the early 1900s. It was amazing for a history buff like me, cause it was the perfect place to immerse myself in one of my favorite time periods (or pretend like you’re in a wild west movie…that’s always an option).
The picture above is from the international car forest in Goldfield, NV, I have no clue why it’s there but it takes up a good 80 acres of space. It’s just one of many strange art installations throughout the desert; the type of places you kinda stumble upon but end up really loving.
I know that just saying ‘the desert’ as my favorite place is really broad, but I’m not really sure how to narrow it down more. There are tons of landmarks within a few hours of Vegas (a couple lakes, great peaks for climbing, some plane crash sites, nature preserves, historic towns, and lots more) and my favorite thing to do in high school was to go explore as many of them as possible. I really miss it and hope to go back soon, but if any of you guys are ever in southern Nevada I’d absolutely recommend taking a drive on the Extraterrestrial Highway and checking out some of these places, you won’t regret it!
