Trip of the Week

The last week in October remains special for Nevadans as they observe 145 years of statehood in various ways. Official celebration of the state’s birthday centers annually in Carson City, but other cities in Nevada plan special events as well.

Zion National Park’s colorful autumn foliage delights visitors through a long, beautiful season. Early color among the stands of aspens in the park’s high back country peaks in mid-October and rapidly disappears. Just now beginning to show, the color in the park’s canyons lingers well into November along the Virgin River and other watercourses and in the Kolob portion of the park. Cottonwoods, box elder, maple and others do their best for visitors during coming weeks.

Joining a national trend of proliferating vineyards and wineries, Nevada’s fledgling wine industry now numbers three wineries, one each in Pahrump Valley in Southern Nevada, in the Lahontan Valley near Fallon and in the Carson Valley near Genoa. Each offers a different experience for visitors and a new attraction for increased tourism.

In its gold mining heyday, Oatman, Ariz., claimed 10,000 residents and thousands of travelers passing through on Route 66, America’s “Mother Road.” Today, the ghost town thrives on tourism, with half a million people annually finding their way to this unusual town where wild desert burros begging for snacks have the right-of-way and gunslingers battle on the main drag several times a day.

The beautiful and sometimes boisterous Santa Clara River in southwestern Utah provides scenery and recreation from its source in the Pine Valley Mountains to its end, where it joins the Virgin River near St. George. Fishermen, boaters, hikers, mountain bikers, campers and scenery-seeking travelers follow the little river to find outdoor enjoyment from the region’s major attractions.

Pahrump Valley styles itself the “Valley of Festivals,” scheduling various kinds of community activities throughout the year. With summer’s heat abating, oncoming autumn provides perfect weather for outdoor community events such as the upcoming Pahrump Wild West Extravaganza, Friday-Sept. 20, the Fall Festival Old-Fashion County Fair, Sept. 24-27, Pahrump Valley Winery’s annual Grape Stomp on Sept. 26 and the County Days Arts and Crafts Fair in October.