Mt. Charleston - The Bad and the Not So Ugly

Today is Nevada Day. As far as I know that just means I get the day off work. Perhaps it's the day Nevada declared it's independance from the government, I'm not sure.

Anyway, my wife and I went up to Mt. Charleston today. We've lived here three years and had never made the drive. Everyone always said how wonderful and beautiful it was and google maps reported that it was only an hour drive. So we went.

We expected to find a nice mountain community with quaint shops and nice parks. Instead, we found about ten log cabins and one nice outdoor restaurant. I wouldn't dare call it a city... or even a township. The road up to Mt. Charleston literally came to a dead end about five minutes after the desert of Las Vegas turned into pine trees.

We had packed a lunch, thinking to have a nice family picnic, and so we went in search of a park, a campground, or anywhere with a table. We came up empty. There was nowhere to park for free. Every day-use recreational area was a minimum $7.00 fee to park. I was appalled. Mt. Charleston was supposed to be the amazing mountain getaway for Las Vegas residents but all we found was a dead end surrounded by somewhat pretty trees.

We spoke to a ranger and asked if there was anywhere on the mountain we could park for 30 minutes, have lunch, and leave. He said "no." And then he went on to suggest we drive down to the visitors where there was free parking... for 30 minutes. We went there but found no tables, no grass. We finally laid out our blanket on some rocks, weeds and twigs under a tree.

After spending a long 10 full minutes on Mt. Charleston we decided to drive back home.


In the end, it was nice to get out of the house and it was nice to see some trees for a change. Mt. Charleston also has a ski-resort which we stopped by on the way home. There were also a number of camp grounds that looked pretty fun to stay at. But truth be told, I don't see myself returning in the near future. It's small, and there's basically nothing to see; though they do seem quick and ready to take your money once you're there.

If you're in vegas and you want a nice free relaxing day, I suggest the library.