Fossil Park opens just minutes from Las Vegas Strip
Before whales, cheetahs and sharks showed up in Las Vegas, it was a gathering place for Colombian mammoths, saber-toothed tigers and prehistoric camels.
That was 25,000 years ago during the late Ice Age. Starting this weekend, fossils of the long-extinct giant animal can be found at a Las Vegas attraction without having to walk past 2,000 slot machines to enter.
Ice Age Fossil State Park is located just 20 miles north of the Las Vegas Strip in a portion of North Las Vegas that was once part of Upper Las Vegas, Washington.
Yes, Las Vegas was once a filthy wetland, not a desert. After some of the previous residents died, dirt and plant material gathered around their bodies, forming stone imprints that were later filled with minerals from groundwater and/or sediments, and—voila! --fossil.
The park's paleontology lab and fossil site are not yet complete (sorry, Ross Geller from "Friends"), but visitors can explore three hiking trails. The most fossilized site is the Big Dig, a 1.2-mile loop named for an interdisciplinary scientific expedition conducted here in 1962-63 and the largest of its kind to date.
Along the trails, you can see the fossilized remains of all the Ice Age mammals in the area, including mountain lions, dire wolves and mass beetle-sized ground sloths. (Note: Views only. Removing or even touching fossils is a violation of state and federal law.)
At the visitor center, guests can study fossils and artifacts on display, watch videos and participate in educational programs.
The 315-acre preserve adjacent to Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument was acquired by the Nevada State Park Service in 1958.
It was designated a state park by former Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval in 2017 and development was completed last year with a $3.5 million grant from the Helmsley Charitable Trust .
Ice Age Fossils State Park, 8660 N. Decatur Blvd., open 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. From January 20, Saturdays and Sundays only.
Admission is $3 for adults and free for children 12 and under. For more information, visit parks.nv.gov.
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