Nevada's Most Scenic Overlooks and Viewpoints

Nevada's overlooks offer the unusual pleasure of seeing 200+ miles of basin and range landscape from isolated mountain summits.

Wheeler Peak Summit (Great Basin NP, 13,063 ft)
The highest viewpoint entirely in Nevada — the summit survey of the Great Basin is extraordinary. Range after range marches to the horizon in all directions; the Great Salt Lake Desert (Utah) is visible to the east on clear days; the Sierra Nevada appears as a dark wall to the west. The bristlecone pines just below the summit add ancient texture to the foreground.

Charleston Peak Summit (11,918 ft)
Spring Mountains above Las Vegas — the view from Mount Charleston's summit takes in the Mojave Desert, the Las Vegas Valley (visible at night in spectacular fashion), Lake Mead, the Colorado River corridor, and the southwestern Utah plateaus. The descent of Las Vegas lights from this summit on a clear night is extraordinary.

Valley of Fire: White Domes Overlook
The contrast between the brilliant red Aztec Sandstone and the white crossbedded domes in the White Domes area of Valley of Fire — seen from the trail above — is one of the most visually striking landscapes in the Mojave.

Hoover Dam Bridge (Mike O'Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge)
The bridge spanning Black Canyon above Hoover Dam, opened 2010 — the highest concrete arch bridge in the Western Hemisphere (890 feet above the Colorado River). The pedestrian walkway gives unobstructed views of the dam, Lake Mead, and the Black Canyon. The dam itself, from the downstream side, is one of the most impressive engineered structures in the US.

Rhyolite Ghost Town (near Beatty)
The ruins of the 1905–1911 mining boom town of Rhyolite in the Amargosa Valley — the three-story bank building ruins and the Cook Bank façade frame a view across the valley to Death Valley's Funeral Mountains. The Goldwell Open Air Museum (outdoor sculpture park) adds an unexpected art element.