Weird Day Trips
Avi Kwa Ame (Spirit Mountain)
Avi Kwa Ame, Spirit Mountain, is a sacred landscape and a national monument visible from the highway south of Searchlight, on the paved drive toward Laughlin. Laughlin is about 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours and on the order of 100 miles. Those are planning numbers, not live traffic. What you actually see is the mountain and, if you leave the highway after checking monument guidance, petroglyphs at Grapevine Canyon.
Avi Kwa Ame is the Mojave name for Spirit Mountain, a sacred creation site for Yuman-speaking tribes and a sacred landscape you can see from the highway south of Searchlight. Avi Kwa Ame National Monument was designated in 2023 and covers about 506,000 acres. This is not a ghost town.
- From Las Vegas
- On the way to Laughlin
- Distance
- South of Searchlight, on US-95 and NV-163
- Road
- Highways paved. Christmas Tree Pass Road is unpaved.
- Time to allow
- With the southern drive
Short history
For Yuman-speaking tribes, Spirit Mountain is a creation site. The monument protects that sacred landscape. It was designated in 2023 and covers about 506,000 acres. Treat it as a place that is already meaningful, not as scenery waiting for a caption from Las Vegas.
Grapevine Canyon holds a large concentration of petroglyphs. They are rock art, not a souvenir. Look and do not touch.
Practical visitor info
Hours and fees change. Check the site, the park, or the business before you go. This page does not quote a current price or a current opening time.
The numbers match the drive times and distances page. Read desert day-trip tips before a hot day, and see sample itineraries if you want to combine stops. The town list is Ghost Towns Near Las Vegas. Tonopah and the Extraterrestrial Highway are indexed under Weird Day Trips.
How long is the drive to Avi Kwa Ame?
The mountain is visible from the US-95 and NV-163 corridor south of Searchlight. Searchlight is about an hour from the Strip. Laughlin, at the end of the same paved drive, is about 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours and on the order of 100 miles. Those are planning numbers for reaching the corridor, not a timed hike and not live traffic.
This page does not give a trail mileage or a gate hour. Check current monument guidance before you leave the highway.
What is unpaved near Avi Kwa Ame?
The main highways, US-95 and NV-163, are paved, and a normal rental car is the usual vehicle for the view from those roads.
Road notes
Christmas Tree Pass Road is the scenic unpaved option. Take it in dry weather only, and only after you check conditions. This page does not report how rough it is this week. An all-wheel-drive badge is not permission to continue if the road looks wrong.
What you can see
From the pavement you are looking at a sacred landscape: Spirit Mountain and the monument country around it. If you go to Grapevine Canyon, you are looking at petroglyphs. Do not touch them, mark them, or climb on the rock.
There is no empty town here to wander. Check current monument guidance for where visitors are asked to stay before you leave the highway.
Heat and safety
Summer afternoons commonly sit above 100°F (38°C), and shade is scarce once you are out of the car. Carry water for any walk. This page does not name a temperature that makes the stop safe.
On the ground
What you can see
You can see Spirit Mountain, a sacred landscape, from the highway. Grapevine Canyon holds a large concentration of petroglyphs if you leave the pavement.
Private or off limits
Look and do not touch the rock art. Check current monument guidance before you leave the highway. This is not a ghost town.
Summer and the season
Summer afternoons commonly sit above 100°F (38°C), and shade is scarce off the highway. Carry water for any walk.
The mountain from the corridor. If you photograph petroglyphs, do it without touching or marking the rock.
Get directions
Get directions from Las Vegas. The link opens a map. It is not a live traffic report.
Combine this
Times below are planning figures. Conditions change. A north stop and a south stop do not belong in the same day. The return drive eats it.
South, between Searchlight and Laughlin. Oatman and Lake Havasu come after you reach the river. Nelson is the other short stop on the way out of town.