110 acres of native habitat in the midst of the glitz, glamour, and grime of Las Vegas. The Las Vegas Springs Preserve has a whole lot to offer the visitor to Vegas, especially families. Within its grounds lies the Nevada State Museum, The Origin Museum, A Sustainability Gallery, a working model of an entirely environmentally friendly home DesertSol, events and classes for children, demonstration gardens, butterfly gardens (in season only), and miles of trails to walk or bike on.
Since the cost of entrance for out-of-state visitors was $19.95 per adult and $10.95 per child, the $60 one year family membership made much more sense for our family. For the same price as a one day admission we can now go as many times as we want while we are visiting Vegas. The membership is also on the reciprocation list for the American Horticulture Society Reciprocal Admissions Program which means we can visit 270 other gardens in America with our membership. Score!
We have already spent two full on days at the Spring Preserve and could easily do one more without getting bored. The premise the Spring Preserve is based on is education on sustainability and environmental issues. We loved the interactive displays and enjoyed wandering the grounds. Our second day there was on a rainy Tuesday and we felt like we had the whole place to ourselves. While a little rain doesn’t keep us away, it did keep out the rest of Las Vegas!
Mike and I were enthralled with the LEED certified buildings on site. Getting LEED certification is a big deal and basically it means that the buildings used environmentally friendly building materials and technology. Think solar panels, rain water catchment, on site sewer treatment, and low-energy consumption.
The kids loved the Nevada State Museum with its history on Nevada from the Dawn of the Dinosaurs to present day big city. The Origin Museum also had displays on the history of Nevada, focussing on the settlement of Las Vegas. There were displays on the flora and fauna of the area, displays on what Native homes used to look like, and there was even a live animal area where we could see real desert hares and desert tortoises! The traveling exhibit while we were there was on shipwrecks and pirates which of course was another huge hit with our kids.
There is simply so much going on at The Las Vegas Springs Preserve. If you are in the area I highly recommend getting the pass as there is simply too much to do there in one day.
2 comments
Josée says:
January 9, 2016 at 7:59 pm (UTC -7 )
Looks like a really neat place! We’d love to explore it one day!
Christine Brown says:
January 11, 2016 at 4:39 pm (UTC -7 )
I’d love to have me one of those LEED buildings. There would be nothing more rewarding than to live off the grid. Keep the stories coming!