Get outside, Las Vegas: Free urban, suburban spots to visit

The Lewis Avenue Pedestrian Corridor next to Centennial Plaza in downtown Las Vegas Monday, June 20, 2011.

Saturday, June 25, 2011 | 2 a.m.

President Obama declared June 2011 as Great Outdoors Month, an awareness campaign and celebration of outdoor recreation and preservation with a nod to natural landscapes and neighborhood parks. While Southern Nevada is noted for its designated conservation areas and national recreation sites, it also has urban and suburban spots worthy of visiting for those dying to get outside in 100-plus temperatures but have no cash for gas, are commuting by foot or bus passes.

Photo by Leila Navidi
Lewis Avenue Poets Bridge

The Lewis Avenue Pedestrian Corridor has a great little footbridge featuring poetry by 20 writers who have, at some point, called Nevada their home. Located in Downtown Las Vegas across from the Foley Federal Building, next to the Historic Fifth Street School, under the beating sun and amid the urban soundtrack, the Poets Bridge is a fitting place to meditate on life in Las Vegas while inspired by the words of Gregory Crosby, Dayvid Figler, German Santanilla and others.

Completed with formal landscape — desert plants, a shallow river and decorative stone — the pedestrian area, (also a popular hangout for the city’s homeless people), is a result of a Centennial Plan beautification project and includes Crosby’s “The Long Shot,” a poetic account of the unimaginable Las Vegas story, a city built on dreams in the most unlikely of places. That story continues in adjacent Centennial Plaza where artist Stephen Hendee’s “Monument to Simulacrum,” an angular and formidable 12-foot-high stainless steel sculpture embodying Las Vegas’ perseverance in an extreme and hostile environment.

The Lewis Avenue Pedestrian Corridor is located at Fourth Street and Lewis Avenue, Downtown.
Photo by Kristen Peterson
Heritage Street

The homes lining Heritage Street, a tree-lined gravel stretch of local history at Clark County Museum, tell stories of noted residents, decades and events of the 20th century. The five homes include a Tudor revival decked in swank ’50s design and a 1912 California Bungalow, depicting life in the 1920s for the Beckley family, who owned a Las Vegas clothing store. A stand-alone room from a motor court (with a 1946 Plymouth parked outside), The Boulder City Depot, a print shop and the Candlelight Wedding Chapel are part of the walk-through collection. And yes, the structures are air-conditioned for your comfort (as opposed to historical accuracy).

The homes are open 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily, 1830 S. Boulder Highway. Call 455-7955 for more information.

Flamingo Arroyo Trail

The Flamingo Arroyo Trail that lines the Las Vegas wash includes art enhancements designed by noted artists Kevin Berry of Phoenix, Barbara Grygutis of Tucson and Buster Simpson of Seattle. Sit under the Pauite-inspired steel shade shelter at the Pecos-McLeod trailhead for a meditative experience, wander through the desert landscape designed in response to the environment, then walk the pedestrian trail.

Seating areas were made of discarded rubble, including stairs from the imploded Stardust swimming pool.

The trail is located off McLeod Drive, south of Desert Inn.

The St. Andrew Catholic Community church labyrinth in Boulder City

The grounds of St. Andrew Catholic Community include a labyrinth accompanied by benches, a desert garden and sculptures. Walk its path in the daytime or stroll it in the evening. The labyrinth is lighted until 10:30 p.m. daily. Even in extreme temperatures, it’s a worthwhile trip for anyone looking to get away and get inward. Make a day of it and visit Boulder City’s shops and restaurants.

St. Andrew is located at 1399 San Felipe Drive, Boulder City.
Neon Boneyard

Take a guided tour through the Neon Museum’s outdoor collection of large-scale and historic metal neon-and-bulb signs. The 150-plus sculpted iconic signs and their scripts forming the Boneyard’s gravel walkway provide a visual narrative of Las Vegas. The collection includes signs from Downtown Las Vegas, the Las Vegas Strip and local businesses. Again, worth the journey no matter how hot it gets in the summer.

For scheduled tours, call 387-6366 or visit neonmuseum.org.
Photo by Sam Morris
Michael Heizer’s “Double Negative”

If you’ve found some extra cash to fill the gas tank and want to explore the outdoors while pontificating the idea of a doubly negative space, head 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas to see Michael Heizer’s “Double Negative.” The 1,500-foot-long, 30-foot-wide, 50-foot-deep earthwork near Overton is one of the largest sculptures in the world, and was completed in 1970 by scooping away 240,000 tons of rhyolite and sandstone to create trenches that are connected by a center canyon. The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles owns the sculpture that is worthy of visiting if you don’t mind a bumpy drive into the rugged desert.

GPS: 36.36’49.02 N 114.20 ’39.89 W