Vegas!

  We weren’t planning on stopping on this trip west but our daughter and son-in-law made a spur of the moment decision to come to Vegas –we were in the neighborhood (what’s a few hundred miles when you have your house with you!) so here we are in Vegas!

  Vegas is very wheelchair friendly – wide sidewalks,good curb cuts, good ramps and elevators at  many of the street crossings. Sometimes the elevators are hard to find. Most are underneath the escalators but some are inside of the casinos. The strip is between three and four miles long. If you get too tired ,the strip bus is accessible. Strip bus

  Parking a RV in Vegas is tough. Many of the casinos along the strip will find a place for you to park if you have a room in their hotel. There are a few places off the strip where oversized vehicles can park-the Orleans where we often park and the Rio. Parking is also available behind Ballys , a few blocks off the strip and the Stratosphere at the far north end of the strip.  Sleeping in your vehicle in Las Vegas may be illegal. I can’t find any laws about it but the casinos that do allow overnight parking don’t want you to look as if you are camping – no levelers, no unhooking of cars .etc.  There’s also a KOA at Circus,Circus that’s really just a parking lot with hookups and is pretty expensive ($44.00 – $80.00)but it’s the only option on the strip if you don’t want to dry camp.
KOA

Lake Mead National Recreation Area

  The main activities at Lake Mead are boating,swimming,fishing and camping. Campgrounds managed by the park service don’t have hookups but there are some concessionaire run ones that are full hookup. Dispersed camping is also allowed in some areas.

  We camped at Las Vegas Bay Campground. The campground is a little oasis of flowering bushes and large trees-very pretty. It sits along a ridge so many of the sites have a view of the lake (which has receded because of the drought so it’s a far away view) or a view of wetland valley. Most of the sites are small but there are a few that are large enough for class As or fifth wheels.

  There are two handicapped sites next to the restroom. The picnic tables benches have been cut down to allow wheelchairs to fit under the tables but other than that they’re no different than all of the other sites. The ground is hard and most of the sites are level so rolling is fairly easy. Lake Mead
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Mesquite Virgin Valley Museum and Art Gallery

  The museum and art gallery are next door to each other so it’s easy to visit them together. Both are pretty small. The art gallery has exhibits by local artists. The museum is a collection of all sorts of things. Local families were asked to donate their family memorabilia so some of the stuff is interesting but some of it should have been left in the attic.;)  Both are free to visit.

  Both buildings are accessible. Most exhibits are easy to see and the aisles are wide enough for a wheelchair. Parking for cars and small RVs is available behind the buildings. Larger RVs can be parked on the side streets. All of the sidewalks and curb cuts are very good. Mesquite Museum
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MAP

Vermilion Cliffs National Monument

 
    Vermillion Cliffs is a wilderness area so accessibility is limited to sightseeing along US 89A. Even though it’s a national monument it’s still managed by the Bureau of Land Management who built the interpretive viewing area pictured above. The interpretative area is handicapped accessible with pavement from the parking spot to the signs. It’s about twenty miles west of Navaho Bridge. Vermillion Cliffs
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   Also watch for the rock house about nine miles west of the bridge. The house was built in the 1930s and is in pretty bad condition. A large rock forms part of the structure. It’s not accessible but it’s easy to see without exiting your vehicle. Rock House
        
        

Navajo Bridge Interpretive Center ,Glen Canyon

  The first Navaho Bridge was completed in 1929 to replace a ferry crossing that was five miles upstream. The bridge was built because of increased car traffic on the road. In 1995 the second bridge was built when the first one was no longer sufficient for the size and weight of modern cars and trucks. The first bridge is now a pedestrian bridge where visitors can view the canyon and the Colorado River.

  The bridge, interpretive signs, restrooms, and national park book store are handicapped accessible.

  The parking lots at both ends of the bridge are small. The one on the eastern side is an area for Dine` craft venders and doesn’t have a turn around area. The one on the western side is part of Glen Canyon NRA and does have a loop through the parking lot but there aren’t any parking spaces for large RVs. Navajo Bridge
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Navaho National Monument

   The main activity at the monument is ranger led walks to two Anasazi ruins. They are not wheelchair accessible due to the terrain of the trails leading down and the construction of the ruins but with some help it’s possible to follow a trail a short way out on the slick rock for some good views of the canyon and it may be possible to follow it all the way to a view of one of the ruins. The trail sign is confusing and we didn’t realize that it was only 1 mile round trip and we stopped when it started heading down hill. Update 11/2018 - we tried this trail and found that it is too steep. A fancy electric wheelchair is available to borrow free of charge but I did not try it. The other two trails trails are narrow, sandy, and not accessible.

  The visitor center is completely accessible with automatic doors, easily viewed displays, and a roomy theater. The campground has one site that is designated as handicapped. It has multiple problems – the parking pad is not level, there isn’t a paved path to the table and the bathroom door is hard to open especially from the inside. Update 11/2018 - the campground appears to have been improved and all of the parking pads paved. We did not check to see if any sites are designated as accessible but it looks like there is now a paved path to the restroom. There's also a paved path from the campground to the visitor center.

  The road to the monument and the parking lot at the visitor center are suitable for any size of RV but the length for RVs in the campground is limited to 28’. Navaho Monument
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Aztec Ruins National Monument

    Excavation of these ruins began in the early 1900s. It’s the largest ancestral Pueblo community in the Animas River valley and originally contained at least 400 rooms. It was built over a 200 year period beginning around 1,100 A.D. The large kiva has been reconstructed and the other walls and rooms stabilized. The  stonework is very finely done and because of the dry climate many of the original roof timbers are still intact.

   The site includes a visitor center with a video and small museum. All are accessible. A paved path winds through the ruins. People in wheelchairs should follow the path to the left until it enters the rooms then go back to the beginning and follow the path to the right. This leads to the large kiva. One of the entrances to the kiva is wide enough to allow wheelchairs to enter and overlook the sunken kiva room.

  There’s a separate lot for RVs and buses to the left of the car lot. Aztec Ruins
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Wild Horse Casino

   This is a very small casino. It’s nice with room between the aisles ,a good variety of slot machines and friendly employees but the whole casino consists of less than 200 machines. 
   The lot is small too and although we stayed overnight larger RVs might not fit especially on busy weekends.  Wild Horse Casino
 

Ghost Ranch Piedra Lumbre Visitor Center

   Stop here if you want a short break while driving along scenic US 84. Formally part the forest service but now managed by Ghost Ranch , the center has a gift shop with snacks, a short trail with great views of the surrounding red rock mountains and two small museums.

  The gift shop is accessible. Most wheelchair users will need some help on the trail because of the slight grades and unevenness of the materials used to make it, a combination of bricks, paving stones, and concrete. Both museums are accessible but a scenic overlook and an exhibit about Georgia O’Keefe  have steps and are not accessible. Visitor Center
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   US 84 between Abiquiu and Tierra Marilla  is very scenic, not busy, and suitable for RVs.
         
         

Museum of Indian Arts & Culture

    This museum has an amazing collection of artifacts, many of them over 1,000 years old and in very good condition. As you progress through the museum, the stories of the Indian tribes of New Mexico are told by tribe members through short videos and written accounts. The temporary exhibits include contemporary art and exhibits of artwork from other native cultures.

   The museum is all accessible. There’s a ramp leading into the exhibits and then a small elevator that requires a key to operate so you must wait for the museum personnel to come help with it.

     Parking for RVs is available in the overflow lot located across the street from the museum. Part of the lot is gravel so park near the edge. After crossing the street there is a bit of a hill in the main lot. If you have a van or car, there’s plenty of handicapped parking in the main lot. An elevator accesses the plaza where the Indian museum is located. The  Folk Art is also located in the plaza and there’s a path from the main lot to the Museum of Spanish Colonial Art. Museum of Indian Arts and Culture
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