It just so happens that we have a Nevada expert on staff, so we put this question to LVA senior editor Deke Castleman, author of Nevada Handbook. Here's what he had to say.
The relevant words here to me are "summer" and "the Nevada that most people never see."
One of my favorite regions in the state is the southeastern part. You leave Las Vegas on I-15 heading northeast toward Salt Lake City, but you get off the interstate at Exit 64, onto US 93. It's all of 25 miles north of the city, but you're immediately in outback Nevada. Out of 38 million annual visitors to Las Vegas and 1.5 million residents, perhaps a thousand or two ever get even this far.
But those who do are in for a treat. For the next 45 miles, US 93 is one of the straightest roads you'll ever have the pleasure to patronize. If your front wheels are properly aligned, you won't even have to steer. Dude, I'm tellin' ya: You can read a book and go 90 mph at the same time. The road is also red, since red volcanic cinders were used to pave it.
Sixty or so miles north of I-15, you come into Pahranagat Valley, the southern end of Meadow Valley Wash, where an underground aquifer (the total extent of which is still largely unknown) interfaces with the surface of the Earth, with verdant vegetation surrounding a couple of lakes. Nice place for a picnic lunch. Alamo is a small idyllic ranching community north of Upper Pahranagat Lake, with a gas station, a couple of mini-marts, and quiet back streets. Ash Springs is the next little settlement; directly across from the gas station there, take a right on a dirt road to a nice developed and free hot spring 50 yards off the road.
North of Ash Springs, you reach an intersection with NV 375; it's 50 miles west to the so-called Extraterrestrial Highway and the UFO town of Rachel. This is the closest civilian settlement to the top-secret yet notorious Area 51, where the Air Force has reportedly test-flown experimental aircraft and stowed and studied unidentified flying objects and extraterrestrials themselves. Rachel, a town of 80, has become the promised land for UFO pilgrims from all over the globe -- many of whom claim to have seen some strange fast-moving and sudden-turning lights and heard unearthly noises in the big sky in the vicinity. Visit the Little A'Le'Inn for a burger, a UFO souvenir, and a look at a wall full of clippings about the local phenomena.
Backtrack on NV 375 to US 93 and continue on to Caliente, the only true railroad town remaining in southern Nevada. It has a few motels and eateries, a Spanish Mission-style railroad depot, and some hotsprings in the area. You can also take a scenic sidetrip up Rainbow Canyon from here.
Heading north, the town of Panaca is a timeless little farming settlement. The high school is the focal point of Panaca; take Fifth Street out a mile to the local swimming hole, shaded by grand old cottonwood trees.
You'll want to spend some time at Cathedral Gorge State Park a mile north of the Panaca cutoff on US 93; the gorge is full of rococo and ecclesiastically shaped sandstone formations. You can overnight here in a good campground with flush toilets and showers or you can head north another 12 miles to Pioche, which completes the Lincoln County triumvirate of railroad town, farming town, and mining town, all within 25 miles of each other.
Pioche is a one of the sweetest and cutest little towns in the whole state, and you can stay overnight in one of a handful of motels, with plenty of things to do and see in the vicinity. For example, if you want to get into the way outback of Nevada, while remaining on paved roads, I highly recommend a trip out NV 322 to Echo Canyon Dam, Echo Canyon State Recreation Area, and the tiny town of Ursine. Spectacular country where, I dare say, you'll never bump into another Las Vegas visitor, no matter when you go. And at the farthest point, you're still only a little more than 200 miles away from the city (with a 100-mile round-trip detour to Rachel).
Now, if you happened to want to take two nights in the outback, you could continue up US 93 to Ely and Great Basin National Park, but that's an answer for another question.
