The Springs Preserve, a $250 million non-gaming cultural attraction located a few miles off the Las Vegas Strip is now open. With 180 acres of museums, botanical gardens, galleries, trails and entertainment venues, the Preserve will fill a niche in Las Vegas as a new cultural hub for locals as well as for tourists seeking an off-Strip experience.

Community leaders and planners have spent nearly a decade developing the facility, which is designed to answer the community’s call for a cultural and educational gathering place on its most treasured national historic site. Thousands of years ago, the Preserve was the site of the first water in the valley and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

The two main galleries of the Preserve, the ORIGEN Experience and the Desert Living Center, take visitors on a fascinating journey through Las Vegas history and introduce them to the latest innovative concepts and tools for living a more eco-friendly lifestyle.

Interactive and educational experiences for all ages are folded into the visitor experience, which includes: an up-close look at a living bat cave, a brush with a live flash flood, a historic trail walk that passes by a Cienega (desert wetland), or an outdoor cooking demonstration in the botanical gardens.

Children can climb aboard a 50-foot rattlesnake replica in the children’s playground, visit the Preserve’s resource library, master one of the many educational video games in the New Frontier Gallery or trade in their own artifacts at the Nature Exchange for other desired items.

Families can cap off their day with a live outdoor concert in the Springs Amphitheater, a light dinner in the Springs Café (operated by Wolfgang Puck) overlooking the Las Vegas Strip, and a casual stroll through the Canary Project photo gallery.

The Preserve is open seven days a week from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. but closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas day. There is an admittance charge to enter the galleries however many of the areas of the Preserve are free to the public including the gardens, trails, resource library, café, gift shop and children’s playground.

Spring Preserve