You might consider Las Vegas as one of the least bike-friendly cities on the planet, with its desert-like climate and traffic-mad Strip, but you would be pleasantly surprised to find that Sin City offers a host of exciting bike routes for enthusiasts. Of course, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to get your motorbike to Vegas across the pond, but fortunately, the city offers ample bike hire stores, notably Escape Eagles, EagleRider and Polaris Slingshot, all of which offer motorbike rentals and the must-have motorcycle supplies to help you explore Vegas on two wheels.

Here, we’ll shine a spotlight on some of the biggest and best sights to explore in and around Las Vegas on a motorbike. Whichever route you choose, you will quickly discover on your two wheels that Sin City has changed. Many of the casino resorts on the Vegas Strip have consolidated and diversified their offering. You’ll find clusters of resorts increasingly owned by one of two overarching groups: MGM and Caesars Entertainment. Meanwhile, the resorts have become less about casino gaming and more about live shows, fine dining and other attractions.

So, without further ado: Let’s look at a few of the best routes of Las Vegas to get under the skin of Sin City and its surrounding landscape.

Hoover Dam – A World-Leading Water Dam

One of the most spectacular feats of modern-day engineering, the Hoover Dam is only a 45-minute ride from the Vegas Strip. It’s a nice and easy ride out of Vegas to the south to Boulder City. Once you’re out of Vegas, you’ll head onto U.S. Route 93 and cruise along here all the way to the dam. The Boulder City region can get busier at weekends due to locals visiting Las Vegas, but it is still no longer than an hour by bike.

Valley of Fire – Nevada’s Oldest State Park That Offers Out-of-This-World Scenery

The Valley of Fire is a little over an hour away from Nevada, situated to the north of Vegas via Interstate 15. The Valley of Fire Highway offers some spectacular scenery along your way. It costs only $10 to park your bike and explore the petroglyphs and atlatl rock, oozing centuries of Native American history. The red other-worldly landscape has seen the Valley of Fire used for space-themed shows such as ‘Star Trek-Generations’!

Mount Charleston – The Ideal Location to Get Away from the Vegas Heat

The local bikers adore a visit to Mount Charleston for its peaceful mountain setting as well as its cooler climate, which can be as much as 20-degrees cooler than the Vegas Strip in the height of summer. Ride into the canyon and enjoy a bite to eat in the Mount Charleston lodge diner before meandering back down the mountain along State Route 158, with plenty of twists and turns to explore en-route back to Vegas.

If you’re going to rent a motorbike from one of the places we recommended in this article, be sure to call ahead and make a reservation. The best bikes tend to go quickly, especially on the weekend.