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Few states offer such an interesting array of activities and attractions as Nevada. From Elvis impersonators, former atomic test sites, ghost towns, casinos, the Burning Man festival, sparkling Lake Tahoe, and desert vistas, Nevada intrigues.

Nevada is perhaps most famous for its main attractions: Las Vegas and Reno-Tahoe. Las Vegas (sometimes referred to as "Sin City") represents an adult playground, a fantastic neon-lit extravaganza of outrageous hotels, gaming tables, Elvis impersonators, lounge crooners, and flamboyant shows. The Reno-Tahoe area is famed for its resorts and the phenomenally blue waters of Lake Tahoe, shared with California. Aside from these principal attractions, however, many fascinating experiences await.

Several museums capture Nevada’s interesting cultural and historical legacies. Art aficionados will appreciate the Nevada Museum of Art in Reno; the state’s oldest cultural institution features a permanent collection of five focus areas with over 1,900 works of art organized in a thematic focus on the environment. The Nevada State Museum in Carson City showcases the Silver State’s natural and cultural heritage with exhibits and educational programs, such as the Earth Science Gallery and even the former Carson City Mint. The Northeastern Nevada Museum & Historical Society in Elko preserves the heritage of northeastern Nevada with exhibits and historical archives. Numerous museums in the Silver State preserve its somewhat more unusual legacies. The Atomic Testing Museum in Las Vegas interprets the story of the Nevada Test Site for nuclear weapons research and testing, and features narratives, artifacts, environmental recreations, and multi-media presentations. Among the several Las Vegas attractions, famous performers are immortalized in museums, such as the Debbie Reynolds Museum for Debbie Reynolds, and the Liberace Museum, honoring the famed musician Liberace. Vehicle fans will want to explore the National Automobile Museum in Reno, the Nevada State Railroad Museum in Carson City, and the Nevada Northern Railway Museum in East Ely.

Nevada offers plentiful attractions for families with children. The Children’s Museum of Northern Nevada in Carson City provides a hands-on environment for children to learn about arts, humanities, and sciences; in addition to several exhibits, the museum holds a vintage rocking horse collection. At Bonnie Springs Old Nevada, children of all ages will enjoy the Old West flavor of a mining town replica, complete with boarded sidewalks, a petting zoo, miniature train ride, showdown reenactments, and a wax museum. Animal lovers will not want to miss the Southern Nevada Zoological-Botanical Park (the Las Vegas Zoo), a year-round zoo with over 150 species of plants and animals; and northern Nevada’s largest zoo, the Sierra Safari Zoo, just north of Reno.

Some of the more offbeat Nevada attractions seem otherworldly. Conspiracy theorists and UFO buffs speculate about "Area 51", or Groom Lake, a secret military facility north of Las Vegas; the curious can traverse Route 375, known as the Extraterrestrial Highway, a 98 mile (157.7 kilometer) stretch of road that approaches Area 51, supposedly the site of many UFO sightings. Perhaps more fascinating, and certainly full of the unexpected, the Burning Man Festival, held the week before Labor Day, celebrates astonishing works of self-expression in the Black Rock Desert, and closes with the burning of a giant wooden "man". Nevada is also home to many mining ghost towns, such as the restored Virginia City.

Several points of historical interest reside in Nevada. Among these, the National Park Service preserves national historic trails, such as the California National Historic Trail, marking the greatest mass migration in American history for over 250,000 gold-seekers and farmers to California; the Old Spanish National Historic Trail, commemorating the path across the Southwest between Santa Fe and Ls Angeles; and the famed Pony Express National Historic Trail, over which men carried the nation’s mail on swift horses from Missouri to California in ten days, in the era prior to the Civil War.

The Silver State abounds with outdoor recreational opportunities, with national and state parks, recreation areas, wilderness preserves, and reservoirs providing an adventurer’s paradise. Lake Tahoe offers camping, skiing, and water sports in addition to its resorts and casinos. At Great Basin National Park, visitors can experience ancient bristlecone pine trees, towering Wheeler Peak, the fascinating landscape and ecology of the Great Basin, and such interesting features as Lehman Caves National Monument, protecting caverns where over 300 rare shield formations can be seen in addition to stalactites, flowstone, and other features. Death Valley National Park, shared with California, preserves the harsh, arid environment of Death Valley, with sand dunes, mountains, canyons, and 3 million acres (12,141 square kilometers or 1,214,057 hectares) of stone wilderness. Lake Mead National Recreation Area offers large lakes to water sports aficionados, the impressive Hoover Dam, and desert ecology and wildlife viewing opportunities. Spring Mountains National Recreation Area (SMNRA) covers over 316,000 acres (1,279 square kilometers or 127,881 hectares) in part of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, which is the largest forest in the lower 48 states; its close proximity to Las Vegas offers easy escapes for hiking, camping,, climbing, skiing, and other activities. The Red Rock Canyon Wilderness Area, also in close proximity to Las Vegas, protects a part of the fascinating Mojave Desert, including petrified sand dunes. Mount Charleston Wilderness, within the Spring Mountains near Las Vegas, stretches across the highest elevations of the Spring Mountains Range, and is home to an amazing range of habitat, with rich plant diversity, interesting microclimates, canyons, trails, and marked elevation range. Ash Meadows National Wildlife Preserve, in the Amargosa Valley northwest of Las Vegas, protects over 23,000 acres (93 square kilometers or 9,308 hectares) of spring-fed wetlands, alkaline desert uplands, and habitats for many unique plants and animals; visitors can enjoy wildlife viewing, picnicking, hunting, and bird watching.

While no major league sports teams call Nevada their home, smaller league teams give fans reasons to cheer. Football fans have the Las Vegas Gladiators of the Arena Football League; baseball fans can cheer the Minor League Baseball team, the Las Vegas 51s; and hockey fans can rejoice in the East Coast Hockey League team, the Las Vegas Wranglers. Mountain bikers should not miss Bootleg Canyon Mountain Bike Park in Boulder City, offering year-round riding on a network of World Class Downhill and Cross Country mountain bike trails. Nevada also boasts fine skiing opportunities for both downhill and cross country skiers. Notable locales include Diamond Peak Ski Resort in Incline Village, Elko Snowbowl near Elko, Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard Resort, close to Las Vegas, Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe in Reno, and Spooner Lake Cross Country Ski Area at Lake Tahoe.

With its varied landscape, glitzy Vegas shows, and offbeat destinations, Nevada offers limitless opportunities for recreation and entertainment.

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