I'm going to a conference for work in Las Vegas in mid May. If everything works out with the weather and airplane gods, I'd like to fly myself there (VFR). Anyone have any must-see stops along the way? I've got about a 3.5 hour range with reserve, and would be cruising about 100 knots, so one fuel stop would be required maybe somewhere around Elko or Ely if I went more or less direct. I'd also like to do a self-tour of the Grand Canyon while down there one evening... Not sure how crowded it is with all the rotorcraft tours in the area.

Boise to Elko to Tonopah to Las Vegas should fit the bill for you as far as range and fuel. About 2 hour legs, lots of scenery and places to get down low and play, and out of the way of the restricted areas till you get to Tonopah. And from Tonopah to Las Vegas, just stay west of Hwy 95, and you're out of the Area 51 restricted mess.

Gump

Chicken Strip? Go say hello to the naked hippies at the hot springs?

Tonopah. Mizpah Hotel. The Tonopah Historic Mining Park is pretty interesting also.

I would go EKO to Ely then direct to Alamo. From Alamo, you'll need to skirt restricted airspace but can slip into N Las Vegas and avoid class B all the way in. Not much to see at stops along the way. However, as Gump said, there is a lot of neat country to see low and slow.

I'll second Gump's route, but take a good low-level look at death valley on the way past. you can stop for lunch at furnace creek or stovepipe wells.

Suggest Boise area to Wells, Nevada to Henderson, Nv. Airport . Or North Las Vegas airport . Boulder city is also a atinitive .If you want to do Grand Canyon get a chart. Lots of fixed wing and rotor wing traffic there .What kind of aircraft /engine/power you flying ? Suggest 180 + HP for
Grand Canyon .

Thanks everyone. This would be in a PA-22-150, with maybe one passenger. I wasn't planning on landing anywhere near the grand canyon, just taking off out of north las vegas and flying around for an hour or so before returning.

Just flew most of this both ways last week. I 3rd Gumps route. That is what I flew. From Elko to Tonopah mostly direct go down Monitor Valley lots of outs.

Go through Austin, NV and see Pops Dory (Coyote Ugly). He's a very good person to know in those parts, a wonderful guy, and has as much local knowledge as anyone. If you're having any kind of trouble with an airplane or anything else in central Nevada, you'd want to have Pops nearby. He is the de facto airport manager at Austin, which is a delightful little airport.

If you happen to be at Austin airport at just the right time, you can see cows being exhumed as barbecue, beer trans-morphing into intestinal gas, bottles and cans becoming ballistic/Newtonian physics demonstrators, and LearJets becoming Extra 300's

The little town of Austin is an interesting little jewel in the middle of nowhere.

Staying out of the restricted area is obvious... but staying within reach of civilization is also a really smart thing to think about in that part of the world. Even in mild weather, having to find help with a flat tire or busted propeller can become a much bigger ordeal when there are many miles between roads or towns. Others on this forum know the area far better than I, but I think it's safe to say that moderate course deviations to stay near main roads, towns, and irrigated areas are well worth the extra few minutes.

scottf wrote:Thanks everyone. This would be in a PA-22-150, with maybe one passenger. I wasn't planning on landing anywhere near the grand canyon, just taking off out of north las vegas and flying around for an hour or so before returning.

Landing /taking off near Grand Canyon I'd go to L25 Pierce Ferry , or Bar 10 . All flights should be early morning in or near Grand Canyon because of Denisity Altitude . May time day time tempatures will go at or near 100 middle of day which means 6-8 ft density altitude at 2000 ft. Msl airport. I'd stay out of Grand Canyon West airport unless you want to spend 100 bucks a head. I fly the area around my home base up to 100 or so miles in all directions so I'm pretty familiar. In Grand Canyon area ground altitudes are common 6-8 thousand above sea level, every year there are 6-10 crumpled airplanes around area.

svanarts wrote:Chicken Strip? Go say hello to the naked hippies at the hot springs?

And the naked hippie and redneck pilots.

So is it pretty much not worth even asking to get clearance through the restricted air space R-4806-N/S/E/W around there? I take it that's the main benefit to Gump's route as coming in to the Vegas area from the north or east and getting to North Las Vegas has a maze of restricted air space and/or Class B to the surface. I've never had the chance to fly in airspace this complicated so this will be fun.

OregonMaule wrote:

svanarts wrote:Chicken Strip? Go say hello to the naked hippies at the hot springs?

And the naked hippie and redneck pilots.

When I finally get over to Chicken Strip I'm going to dive right in with all the nekkid hippies! Bathing suits take up precious cargo space. I'm short, fat, and ugly and don't care who knows it!

One of the more direct routes that would work great is Boise area to Battle Mountain, Austin, Tonopah and stay west of the Restricted space between Tonopah and Las Vegas.

Many of the roads (Dirt and Paved) in Nevada can be great Emergecy Landing spots. (I-80 in the Wells, NV has been proven to work very well).

Lots of great things to see along the way. Wild horses south of Owhyee Rivers, open pit mines around Battle Mountain, Carlin, Round Mountain, Death Valley. If you stop in Elko for fuel and want to make a stop in Tonopah, I do suggest flying down the Monitor Valley. Diane's Punch Bowl would be cool to see from the air and the western side of the valley north of Belmont is pretty scenic. (Lots of ELS also!)

Thanks all for the suggestions. Beat the rain near Boise early thing morning, then made it down safely through Elko and Ely and through all the MOAs which were cold anyway. Nellis and Las Vegas controllers were nice and helpful and made transitioning the MOAs and Class B a fun experience for this Idaho boy. Got to fly right over the top of McCarron and Nellis AFB. Planning to go back though Tonopah and Battle Mountain. Was windy as hell here from what I was use to, 24G32 with a pretty stiff crosswind. Kind of funny, no one at Henderson ramp and lobby crew had every seen or heard of a Tri-Pacer.

Saw the weirdest thing not too far out of Elko... first "UFO" sighting for me. We were cruising at 9500 and I saw what looked like a flying box. At first we thought maybe it was a balloon or a bird, but it was flying horizontal and going the opposite direction, level flight. We passed it maybe 500 feet away. After a few "what the hell was that" moments with my passenger it was gone. Pretty sure it was a drone of some kind but not sure what the heck it was doing, this was not in a MOA or anything, and I found it unusual to see a drone up so high... not your typical backyard quadracopter hobbyist.

The mine that I work at (Bald Mountain) is pretty much directly south of Elko about 50-60 miles at the southern end of the Ruby Mountain Range. I'm not sure if you flew down that valley before cutting over to Eureka, but our mine would have been pretty cool to see from the air.

So far, I haven't seen any interesting aircraft flying over the mine site. Except for an accasional helicopter or small plane and lots of jets trails high above. But we aren't inside of an MOA or Restricted Airspace.

When you return north through Tonapah to Battle Mountian. Follow the highway north of Tonapah airport and over the Kenros Round Mountian Mine. That's a pretty impressive sight!!! Huge open pit mine with miles long leach or waste dirt pads.

Have fun and fly safe!