Monica is hosting a contest for the most interesting location in Nevada. 

I could offer lots of possibilities based on short visits over a lifetime, mostly in the Southern Nevada area, and a few farther North as well, but I would need to reach into fuzzy memories for many.  Tahoe is great.  I loved my years at UNR, so a visit to Manzanita Lake and the Bowl would be fun, as well as a trek around the campus.  I remember that some of the parks were really nice there, especially Idylwilde.  There are little towns between the South and the North with mining history and such.  I remember a family trip through a Nevada themed museum in Carson City when I was about 8, and visiting the capitol and governor's mansion when I participated in Girls' State.  We had the added benefit of the governor's daughter being among our group, so our tour of the mansion seemed a bit more special.  Virginia City is a lot of fun...I love the little shops, not to mention the train!  Hiking in Red Rock, fishing at Lake Meade (maybe not so much these days), camping at Mount Charleston...lots of fun.  But how about something a little less known, but nice, all the same.

In the summer after ninth grade, I held my first official job.  I was involved in the Youth Conservation Corps, and was assigned to the group of teens and adult supervisors at Corn Creek.  It was a blast!  We were picked up in town each weekday and shuttled by old school bus a ways North of Vegas, to a wildlife preserve known as Corn Creek.  Our duties generally entailed maintenance, cleanup, and beautification of that particular site, though we occasionally had days that took us offsite to other locations.  I spent many days in mucky ponds cutting down reed-like plants called phragmites...our crew had that particular pleasure...it was fun, in spite of the muck.  We planted trees all around the "bone-yard", repaired barbed wire fences, and did a number of other tasks. 

I haven't been back in forever, it seems.  I gather it's still there, ranger station and all.  It's not so remote these days, as Vegas has exploded in every direction in the last almost 30 years.  The ranger station has examples of local wildlife (birds, bighorn sheep, etc.), and the grounds are a great place for bird watching.  There is a nature walk around the pond areas, which I recall helping to clear of weeds on some of our work days...the shaded areas were awesome on hot summer days.  I'm sure a trek out that way would refresh my memory more, but with the sea of concrete that is Las Vegas, I know this would be something worth investigating for all you Southern Nevada homeschoolers.   And for any who might visit from the North or from out of town, state, or otherwise, it's a nice change of pace from the hustle and bustle of modern day Vegas. 

Try this site for some highlights and review, and this one for a bit of history.

Visit the Nevada site here on Homeschoolblogger for contest details.