There’s a Las Vegas that amazes and inspires beyond the crazed commotion of the Strip. Swap out the crowds for millenniums-old rock art on the outskirts of town. Forget the nonstop music and pulsating digital screens and opt instead for parks in which to walk and think.
And in place of that disorienting, can’t-stand-it-anymore feeling, you can find, well, if not peace, at least wide-open spaces in which to breathe.
Clark Country Wetlands Park: The 10,000-year-old wetlands, nine miles from the Strip, became a 2,900-acre park in 1993. It features wooden bridges and Zen-garden-inspired lookouts. The wetlands’ paved paths and miles of trails curve around creeks, ponds, rivers and marshes.
Calico Basin Red Springs: The Calico Basin and Red Springs picnic area are a short ride from the Strip and a local favorite. Kraft Boulder Peak, an attractive jumble of rock slabs, ascends next to the parking lot. The summit affords a spectacular view of the Keystone Thrust, the tectonic do-si-do in which gray Cambrian limestone pushed up and eventually topped much younger pink Jurassic sandstone in the surrounding mountains.
A sunset is reflected against the window of a pedestrian bridge, creating a mirage on the Mirage hotel and casino in Las Vegas. Known for bright lights and gambling tables, Vegas has also served as a literary inspiration.
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The Flamingo casino is a literary jackpot. It’s been a setting for Tim Powers’ novel of the supernatural, “Last Call,” as well as “Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!,” the nonfiction work by and about renowned scientist Richard Feynman.
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Visitors make their way through the Midway at Circus Circus, featured in Hunter S. Thompson’s “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.”
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Acrobats from China swing high above the crowd in a duo aerial strap performance on the Midway at Circus Circus, which was immortalized in Hunter S. Thompson’s 1971 book “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.”
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Visitors walk past the merry-go-round made famous in “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.”
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A man is caught in a mosaic of color and light on the Las Vegas Strip.
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Mark Pearce, left, has breakfast with friends at the Peppermill Restaurant on Oct. 13. MacArthur “genius” fellowship recipient Dave Hickey has been known to hold court at its Fireside Lounge, debating art, culture and Las Vegas with every person who enters his sphere.
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Brian Hewitt and Anne Flagg enjoy the ambience of the Fireside Lounge at the Peppermill Restaurant.
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The Mob Museum features a selection of bestsellers and works on organized crime, law enforcement and local history, along with author talks and book signings.
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The Mob Museum in Las Vegas occupies what was originally a city post office/courthouse. There, you might pause to consider Truman Capote explaining in “In Cold Blood” how the murderers were caught: They mailed their blood-soaked clothes care of general delivery, and the police watched them claim the box.
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The gift shop at the Mob Museum sells books on the mafia and Las Vegas history.
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The Guardian Angel Cathedral, designed by Los Angeles architect Paul Revere Williams, stands along the Vegas Strip.
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The Guardian Angel Cathedral was featured in Richard Rodriguez’s “Darling: A Spiritual Autobiography.”
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Housed at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, the Beverly Rogers, Carol C. Harter Black Mountain Institute sponsors fellowships, readings and panels.
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Vegas is exciting and all, but sometimes you just need to get away. Members of the Wilcox and Pilimai families point out a pair of American coots at the Clark County Wetlands Park, nine miles from the Las Vegas Strip.
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A spring soft-shell turtle wades in a pond that also features fish, ducks and other wildlife at the Clark County Wetlands Park in Las Vegas.
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Ethel M Chocolate Factory and Botanical Cactus Gardens: The four acres of cactus gardens and the adjacent small-batch chocolate factory are an unlikely combo in a city of unlikely combos. The factory and gardens, just minutes from the Strip, are maniacally tidy: No stray drips of chocolate, not a rock out of place.
James Turrell’s “Akhob”: For Strip-bound visitors, James Turrell’s “Akhob” in the Louis Vuitton store in Crystals at CityCenter offers respite. The internationally renowned Light & Space artist built a Ganzfeld installation — a perception-alternating environment — in the Vuitton inner sanctum. Visitors remove shoes before entering the space to experience a subtle but enthralling 20-minute looping light show.
Info: www.lat.ms/1QppaRj. To make an appointment, call (702) 739-8520 well in advance.
Wildlife Habitat at the Flamingo Las Vegas: A tiny gem in the heart of the Strip, with black-necked swans, brown pelicans and, of course, Chilean flamingos among the dozens of species that roam freely.