Clark County

Beyond the Neon

The Markers Statistics

There's no doubt about it, Clark County is also an excellent place for conquering historic markers! Unfortunately, the county is also home to more MIAs than any other part of the state, all due to the sudden urbanization that has skyrocketed in the past decade. The good news is you will not have to be solely stuck within the boundaries of Las Vegas to conquer this county. Less than a quarter of Clark's markers are chained to the city limits with most of them highly spread out across the Mojave Desert. Kick back and let the Creosote tag along as you slam by on Clark's super highways. Before you hit the road, let me just say: do not expect to conquer the county in one day! Although it is possible to bag Clark in two days, three days to a full week is a much wiser plan. A full week's time allows you to split the county up into some very enjoyable bits and pieces, including a visit to the region's scenic state parks, or in the everyday goings-on in Sin City. For convenience purposes, we've split Clark into three individual regions. You might find this helpful in your journey as well ...

"The Mainland" -- "The Mainland" comprises of everything north of Lake Mead. As simple as this sounds, it is not. Due to its size and many spur routes from I-15, this region may take you the longest to conquer. This chunk of Clark County includes the I-15 and SR 160 corridors, the outlying areas near the state line, the many spur markers off both routes (such as Goodsprings) and the highlight of the trip: the two markers located within Valley of Fire State Park. If you are planning a week or two, consider this venture a two to four day jaunt.

"Urban Clark" -- These cities are so sprawling that Las Vegas and Henderson themselves easily make up their own region. I took a day and a half to tackle these obnoxious markers accounting for traffic, lunch breaks, and the notorious road construction that forever seems to haunt this region. Boston's "Big Dig" had nothing on Nevada. We've also accounted for some doubling-back for research purposes of the MIAs. (I can tell you that I couldn't have obtained all the information that I did without allowing this much time, having visited several NDOT branches within the cities!) Navigating Las Vegas and Henderson comes easy, but it's the distribution of the markers that are challenging. Expect a few instances where you will be forced to double-back, especially if you wish to scout out any of the MIAs for yourself.

"The Needle" -- It's that neat little wedge - the actual "tail" of Nevada that extends south from the rest of Nevada. We call this the "Needle," a unique piece of our geography that otherwise would make our state a boring block on the U.S. map! "The Needle" is a sliver of the state that stretches south out of Las Vegas serviced by only one north-south highway -- US 95. You will have to make this long drive twice if you wish to tackle the five southernmost markers in the state. Geography plays a factor here. Bounded by the Colorado River on the east and its rugged bordering mountains, US 95 is the only direct route out of here, as there is no alternate return route back to Las Vegas unless you want to come back through California from the west. (Access back to Nevada from Arizona is a long one-day loop by way of the Hoover Dam, the only way over the Colorado River) Fortunately, US 95 has been recently upgraded to four-lane status to accommodate the many "weekenders" from Arizona and southern California, making this drive rather long, but easy breezy.