Round a bend on a highway less than 30 minutes drive from the Las Vegas Strip, and a panorama of red rocks, green cactus, gray mountains, blue sky and white clouds opens before you.

It's even better at dawn, when rich yellow rays from the east cast a warm hue on the textured hills. Humans don't shape scenes like this. It smells of fresh mesquite, pinon, creosote and sage. This is nature, not neon.

Red Rock Canyon may not be as vast as the Grand Canyon or Death Valley, or as well-known as Zion, Bryce Canyon, Monument Valley or Yosemite. But it's got comparable beauty and history, and it's a lot closer to hotels.

Read more at http://www.mailtribune.com/archive/2006/0519/life/stories/redrockcanyon.htm.