Lake Las Vegas

A lake in the middle of the southern Nevada desert? Hard to believe, but yes, it’s true. After the damning of the Las Vegas Wash in 1991, this small artificial lake near Lake Mead was created. Nowadays it’s a hoity-toity resort with a country-club atmosphere, and it feels a world away from the Strip. A refreshing oasis in summer, the focus of the resort, to which public access is unrestricted, is its palatial residential homes and grand hotels like the Ritz-Carlton Lake Las Vegas and Loews Lake Las Vegas Resort, complete with championship golf courses including Reflection Bay. Kayaks, jet skis and sailboats can be rented from MonteLago Village Marina, where one-hour yacht cruises depart on most weekends. Gondola Adventures offers romantic champagne-and-chocolate, picnic lunch and sunset dinner cruises on the lake. In winter, the resort opens a floating ice-skating rink. To get to the lake, take I-215 eastbound to Lake Mead Dr, then turn left onto Lake Las Vegas Pkwy; it’s at least a 40-minute trip from the Strip.