Gold Butte National Monument (GBNM) is located just 2 hours outside of Las Vegas, Nevada, 1 hour from Mesquite, NV and encompasses 300,000 acres of land. One of the newer monuments since 2016, GBNM is home to endless sandstone, rock art, old mining equipment, arches, wildlife, and even a ghost town. Most people come here to ride their ATV around to all the sites, and others like me, come for the hiking and geological features.
The Living Room Trail is one of SLC's most popular hike. At only 2 miles round-trip, this overlook provides one of the best views looking down to the city. There are several routes to reach The Living Room, which is home to several rock "lazy boys" and "couches". If you hike up here on a Friday night or during the day on the weekends, The Living Room can get really crowded. I've been up there when 40-50 people are all trying to see the sun set, or just relax and drink a beer. The Living Room sits behind the Natural History Museum along the Bonneville Shoreline Trail (BST). This is a popular hike to bring along dogs, kids, and the whole family and it can be done in under 2 hours.
Mountain Dell Recreation Area is a cross country (xc) skiing area and sledding area in the Winter, and converts to a golf course in Summer. During Winter, Mountain Dell is maintained by TUNA.
Look no further. I've created this list for those wanting to take the kids out for a hike, but aren't ready for an all day adventure. These 3 hikes range from 15 minutes to 2 hours, and can be safely hiked year round. No matter how long or short your hike, be prepared with at least one bottle of water per person, a small snack, and sun protection. For more tips when hiking with kids, read more of this post. Grab your hikin' boots, and let's hit the trails!
Spencer Hot Springs is located almost directly in the center of Nevada, about an hour west of Eureka, NV. This is one of Nevada's more popular hot springs, and consists of three soaking areas - two tubs and one natural pond. This remote area is dog friendly, has plenty of free camping, clothing is optional (half the people we saw were skinny dipping), and it's free to soak.
Cross country skiing in the Uintas is one of my favorite winter activities! I've been cross country (XC) skiing since 2008 when I lived in Montana. My favorite place to ski was Lone Mountain Ranch, but when we moved to Utah, no resort compared to that. So, I had to find new places to ski, and of course, I wanted to bring Charlie along. Yes, Utah has some small xc ski resorts like White Pine Touring, but you can't bring dogs to those places. Round Valley is a nice dog-friendly option but gets boring after awhile. The past few years I've been dying to get out and xc ski in the Uintas but didn't have a good car to get there in winter. I was afraid my little Sonata would get stuck, and I didn't want to deal with it.
