Getting your bearings in Vegas

Curiously, many people go to Las Vegas without exactly knowing where it is. Because it is so close to Utah, Arizona and California, it seems to contradict what the casual student of Western US geography thinks about where these states are located.

The easiest way to find one’s way is to imagine first the main interstate artery that descends down the west side of Utah. It intersects along the way with Interstate 70 (which comes from the Midwest and Colorado), and then heads towards the extreme southwestern corner of Utah. There, at Mesquite, it crosses into Arizona briefly and then into Nevada. I-15 comes into Las Vegas from the northeast and departs from the southwest, heading out of town towards the border with California, and then continuing on to Los Angeles.

In the southern tip of Nevada, defined as a triangular area with point down, about halfway between Utah and California, lies Las Vegas. Interstate 15 provides exits to North Las Ve-gas, then downtown and then the Strip. The Las Vegas Strip runs roughly parallel to I-15 for four miles. The Strip is technically old Nevada Route 91, which I-15 replaced in part.

When I-15 comes into Las Vegas from the northeast, it is entering the valley that gave Las Vegas its name, and proceeds southward towards the other end. At the north end of the Val-ley is North Las Vegas. The city of Las Vegas and the Strip are approximately mid-valley, and the town of Henderson, 20 miles or so to the south and east, is on the southern edge.

The next bearing deals with Arizona. Nevada's eastern border with Utah is a straight line. Once Utah ends and Arizona begins along this line, the border continues straight south for a little ways until it reaches the Colorado River and the lake system known as Lake Mead (the result of a partnership between the Colorado River and Hoover Dam). The river and the lake act as the border between Nevada and Arizona for quite a distance, passing nearby Las Vegas to the west. Eventually, at the very southern tip of Nevada, the three states of Arizona, Nevada and California meet at a point. This place is just south of Laughlin, Ne-vada and Bullhead City on the Arizona side. Further south, California and Arizona share the common border defined by the Colorado River until it runs out. Its dry bed continues to be the border all the way to Mexico, 243 miles south of Nevada.

So Las Vegas is not far from California to the southwest, Utah to the northeast, and Arizona to the east and southeast, across Lake Mead and the Colorado River.

The main roads serving Las Vegas, other than the I-15 interstate, are:

(1) US Interstate 515 offers a kind of throughway of the center of Las Vegas, coming south off of US 95 to the northwest of Las Vegas, and heading due south and then due east to go right through the center of town (with exits for Fremont Street) and then proceeding easterly a few more blocks until heading south on the east side of town towards Henderson. US 93 is contiguous with I-515 along this stretch, and it seems to parallel the route of North Boulder Highway out of Las Vegas. After brushing nearby Henderson, I-515 ends. The road continues as US 93 on to Boulder City, Hoover Dam, and Arizona.

(2) Nevada Highway 215 and US Interstate 215 is a kind of western beltway for Las Vegas. Nevada 215 starts way east at I-15 as that road approaches Las Vegas from the northeast, and then it heads west along the northern suburbs of the city, then in the northwestern sector it starts heading south, through Summerlin, and curves back east towards I-15 south of the Strip and the Airport. As I-215, the road keeps head-ing eastward and south, eventually ending into I-515 just east of Henderson. Con-tinuing in that direction where the road ends will take a traveler along the Lake Mead Parkway (Nevada 564) to Henderson and the Lake Las Vegas turnoff.

(3) US Route 95 comes from Carson City and Reno, northwest of Las Vegas, more or less along Nevada's western border, passing through the northwestern suburbs and then following the I-515 corridor through the center of Town and down to Hender-son. Where I-515 ends, US 95 and US 93 partner up until south of Henderson, where US 95 branches off to the due south. Eventually it meets and absorbs the the Veterans Memorial Highway coming out of Boulder City and heads to Searchlight and (eventually) to Laughlin down in the point.

(4) US Route 93 comes from due north out of Idaho, and eventually hooks up into I-15 northeast of Las Vegas above the Nellis AFB. It then continues with I-515 to the center of town, then grabs a ride to the east and south with I-515, and goes to Hen-derson. Where I-515 ends, US 93 keeps going towards Boulder City, Hoover Dam and Phoenix, parting company with US 95 just south of Henderson.

(5) State Route 582, known as the North Boulder Highway, heads south and east right out of Downtown to Henderson, Boulder, and Lake Mead. It is the local road to I-515 for much of this distance.
Local orientation is fairly simple: McCarren International Airport is at the south end of the Strip, and Henderson, Boulder City and Lake Mead lie to the southeast of there. At the north end of the Strip, the traveler is heading to "Downtown" from the south and will come across the several square blocks that comprise Fremont Street, the Fremont Street Experi-ence, and the various hotels and casinos there. Heading north up Las Vegas Boulevard, the traveler arrives in North Las Vegas, where there are also a number of casinos and hotels. Other areas of interest are in northwest Las Vegas, reached by following I-515 and US 95 north from the Strip.

Farther to the west of Downtown is the posh suburb of Summerlin (named after Howard Hughes' grandmother), and farther still is Red Rock Canyon. To the west south of there is Spring Valley, another suburb with gaming and hotels.

Two other areas come up in navigating Las Vegas: From the Strip east several blocks along Flamingo or Tropicana one comes to another area of hotels and casinos. Likewise, some hotels, restaurants and casinos are found several blocks west of the Strip along the main intersecting roads.
Once it is clear where these various areas are located, it would be time to study more details on a map of the Strip [link] and the map of Downtown [link].