Route recommandations for day trip from Vegas

[00NBVFR]

Good morning region 1 folks :-)

Travelling to Vegas soon and have an 8 hour window available for riding.  I have reserved a rentalbike already but I am looking for suggestions of day trip itineraries from Vegas.  Grand Canyon was my first choice but my available time seems too tight for a return trip (600 miles).  Would any ''locals'' have suggestions?    Your suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

[jschmidt]

Just don't eat at the Little Alie-Inn. Seriously.

[wookie]

I cannot offer any advise on a day trip, but sounds like a great idea.  I'm going to vegas in about a month and I might try the same thing.  Where did you rent the bike from?  

[00NBVFR]

I cannot offer any advise on a day trip, but sounds like a great idea.  I'm going to vegas in about a month and I might try the same thing.  Where did you rent the bike from?  

I rented a VFR from http://www.sportbikerental.com/

[bluepoof]

2 choices:

* Hoover Dam, if you haven't been, is really cool and the tour is very interesting and worth the $$ (IMHO).

* Valley of Fire State Park loop -- My write-up of my most recent time doing this loop
- From Las Vegas, take I-15 north to Hwy 169 (get gas at this intersection)
- Along Hwy 169 you'll eventually hit a visitor's center -- worth the stop
- After the visitor's center, before getting back on 169, take the small road leading north behind the visitor's center towards Rainbow Vista
- U-turn at White Domes (as far as you can go) and head back to the visitor's center
- Get back on east Hwy 169
- Turn south on Hwy 168
- If you need gas or are hungry, Echo Bay is about 6 miles out of your way but has gas and a good little marina restaurant.

It's about a 160-mile loop (including the Echo Bay diversion) and is very pretty.  Hot as hell in summertime, though, of course.

[Scratch33]

Last time I was out riding from Vegas in 2005 we did a loop including Red Rock Canyon & the Valley of Fire.

[basco]

I second the Hoover Dam suggestion. Half an hour away from LV and its worth it.

[00NBVFR]

Thanks to those who replied.  Very helpful!  Particularly interesting to get a prior feel of the environement and region from BlueBoof's Desert Road Trip Report.  

[basco]

Be careful when you ride thru LV. I was there for a week in January and there were two fatalities less than a mile from where I was staying on the strip. People jaywalk there big time and vehicles just blow thru the strip.

[FJRPierre]

No one suggested a pop over to Death Valley/Furnace Creek & return via Badwater Rd to Shoshone & LV. Bit too long to return via Badwater maybe?

[00NBVFR]

Quick update...
Valley of Fire State Park idea given by BluePoof was great.  I am still smiling after a week :-)  Also, for those of you going to Vegas and wanting to rent a motrocycle, I can highly recommend SportbikeRental.com.  These guys live and breath motorcycling, customer service and have a contagious enthusiastic attitude that can only make for a great experience.

[MuddDawg]

Hey there, I just got back from Vegas myself.   I rented a Bike from www.sportbikerentals.com as well.  They took very good care of me.  I started off on a VFR and had some technical difficulties, I went back to the the shop and traded it for a 2006 Ducati MultiStrada.  This was my first time on a V-Twin and had a great time.  It was flat black and looked like a Stealth Fighter plus you got to love that undertail exhaust that looks like machine guns.  I did a 177 mile loop up to Valley of Fire State Park (Very beautiful), up to Overton for lunch and down along Lake Mead back to Vegas.  Saw a few Rangers, and they were giving out tickets, luckily we kept it under Warp 10 so that was not a problem(or didn't get caught testing the Multi out)  Overall we had a great time, but some of the Lake Mead road(not sure of actual name of this road- Its all on Blue's ride report.)was very bumpy, and ended up standing on the pegs for some of it.  I liked the VFR for the 15 minutes I was on it, and might have to go back and do it again to get some more saddle time in.  The Multi had very predictable power, and was light and flickable compared to my Bandit.  The Multi was about half way between my DRZ 400 in SM mode and my Bandit for a comparison.  I did miss the Power-band my Bandit has between 5-10k.  Thanks everyone for the info that contributed to my ride.  

[SteveJones]

Wife and I are heading to Vegas for the Supercross finale in May, and are renting a GoldWing from EscapeEagles.com for a day.

We are making a big loop taking in 157/158 through the Toiyabe near Griffith Peak, then Red Rock Canyon, then the dam, then north on the lake road to valley of fire then back to the poker tables.  S&T tells me it's 330 miles.  

[jwhite518]

 S&T tells me it's 330 miles.  

That's like, what, a half day ride for an Iron Butt guy, right?

[SteveJones]

That's like, what, a half day ride for an Iron Butt guy, right?

Man, that is just a tire warmup for a true IB'er...  

I just dabbed my toe into the IB waters... had fun but think I exhausted my interest.  500 miles is about the daily limit on my fun meter.

And when SWMBO is on the back, things start to get a bit mutinous as we near the 400 mile mark.