Spring overload happens in Las Vegas this weekend. If your family missed the frivolity on April Fool’s Day, you still have ample opportunities to celebrate the spring holidays at various locations throughout Southern Nevada. With such glorious weather at this time of year, several outdoor events have been scheduled for families to share relaxation, adventure and discovery.
On Saturday, April 9, enjoy festivals with carnivals, exhibits, food and games at the Dia Del Nino in the Springs Preserve to honor children, between 11:00 am and 5:00 pm, and at the Family Festival in Floyd Lamb Park to honor families, from noon till 4:00 pm. Entrance fee is free or $6 at most. While the children play, adults can relax in these natural environments, resplendent with the new growths of spring.
Away from our urban surroundings, we can delight in the wonders of nature while strolling through the Botanical Gardens at Loews Lake Las Vegas, open on Sundays at 9:00 am for guided tours. The Spring Nature Walk at the Springs Preserve and the Family Nature Walk at the Clark County Wetlands Park are more physically demanding, so guided tours start at midmorning and end before noon on Saturday, April 9. Minimal admission fees enable these parks to provide a wilderness adventure for the entire family.
For the families who like to explore on their own, the Redstone Discovery Hike at the Lake Mead Recreation Area is a moderate, 2-mile hike through the spectacular red rocks surrounding the Redstone picnic area. Young and old will scramble through sculpted red rocks in a dazzling array of formations interspersed with flowering desert plants. Reservations through the visitor’s center for the April 9 event are required for safety and conservation guidelines. There are many hiking trails from easy to difficult throughout the Lake Mead and the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Areas which are available to hikers of all ages, and springtime is the best time to enjoy observing nature’s wonders up close or its vistas from afar.
Although Las Vegas has become a sprawling metropolis, it still embraces its heritage of the Old West. On Saturday, April 9 from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm, at the Old Mormon Fort in the Nevada State Historic Park on Las Vegas Boulevard, guest speaker and Review Journal Columnist Geoff Schumaker will present the Birth of Las Vegas and its early history. After that, between 12:00 pm and 3:00 pm, Spring Mountain Ranch on Blue Diamond Road will give historic walking tours of the ranch and its grounds that are nestled amid the mountains at Red Rock Canyon. Next door, the Bonnie Springs Ranch is offering a Helldorado Trail Ride on horseback to begin the festivities for Helldorado Week soon to arrive in May. At Floyd Lamb Park, the family can explore the historic Tule Springs Ranch any time of the day. Families living in Las Vegas can realize that there is more to Vegas than the Strip.
After the long winter months, April brings the hope of spring. We see it in the beauty that nature reveals after April showers cleanse and nurture. We also see it in the abundance of celebrations; because when April rains, we pour with joy.
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