Deserts of Nevada compared to Arizona... (Las Vegas, Reno: income, income tax, live in)

[Tiger Beer]

Usually its the cities, but what about deserts?

There is something beautiful about the photos I see on here of Nevada deserts. I think I like the absense of the many prickly seguaro cactuses so common in Arizona - yet picturesque of Arizona as well.

It does seem like Arizona is more 'flowery', but is that more the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument area?

How about offroad and exploring and such...seems like Nevada has a lot more land and space...etc.?

I'm going mostly off of photos and driving in a car and looking off the major expressways. But for those who've explored and gotten to know the deserts more, what would be your comparisons?

[Clarks]

Nevada is half warm desert, half cold desert, there is a glacier in Nevada. There is a plateau at 10,000 feet 15 miles long, 3 miles wide with aspen forests, grasslands, elk herds and trout streams.

There are playas, where nothing lives, no plants, no animals, no insects. There are 300 mountain ranges, there is one cave large enough to fly a helicopter into.

Nevada is the best state in the Union, at least the part north of the Clark County line and East of the Washoe county line.

[dano]

This is a no-brainer. Arizona deserts are much more scenic than Nevada deserts I think primarily due to the summer monsoons and lower elevations producing a warmer climate. Just drive from Phoenix to Rocky Point Mexico during the spring months and you won't try to ague. 10-foot high Senoran Desert cacti and other green shubbery towering over your vehicle beats knee-high brown sage brush any day of the week.

[Clarks]

Those who think Nevada is knee high brown sage brush, thankfully exist, that leaves the rest of the state for those who leave pavement.

I have been to Arizona, I have yet to find a frozen lake in a granite basin, in the middle of July, I have in Nevada. I have also spent weeks in wilderness areas of Nevada, fishing, and not seen a soul.

I have driven hundreds of miles of back roads in Nevada, and not seen a soul.

Nevada, so unattractive;

[Clarks]

[dano]

My point still stands regarding the desert/valley floors.

Now if you are talking alpine scenery it is much more even and I'd give the edge to Nevada for diversity of scenery from Lake Tahoe to Blue Lake in the Pine Forrest Range near the Oregon boarder to the many lakes I've hiked in the Rubies to skiing on Mount Charleston outside of Vegas to climbing Mt. Whitney in the Southeastern Sierra.

One thing Nevada high country doesn't have is the high platues of the Arizona White Mountains where there are thousands of square miles of forrest land nourished by summer monsoon rains. Back in 2006 I rented a cabin in the forrest outside Pinetop for a week in August and it consistently rained every day between 3 and 5 PM and then cleared up until 2 or 3 the next day.

BTW I like the pictures and would take a wild guess that the first was the foothills of the Rubies. I am 46 years old and have spent half of my life in Nevada and the other half in Arizona. I hope by now it is apparent that I have strayed off payment and I might know what I'm talking about.

[tijlover]

Originally Posted by Tiger Beer

Usually its the cities, but what about deserts?

There is something beautiful about the photos I see on here of Nevada deserts. I think I like the absense of the many prickly seguaro cactuses so common in Arizona - yet picturesque of Arizona as well.

It does seem like Arizona is more 'flowery',

I'm with you, I prefer more real, true desert, the least vegetation possible. To me vegetation, like saguaro's, Joshua trees, sage brush, is a distraction to me.
If I want desert, I want desert, if I want jungle, I want jungle.

It's not that I don't enjoy driving thru AZ in the springtime and seeing the cactii flowers, it's just my preference for more starkness like Death Valley or the Atacama Desert of Chile, and what can grow there with only .01 precip. a year?

I also like mountains denuded of trees, like you see around Las Vegas. When I'm up in CO, WA or OR and I see a mountain, I just want chop down all the trees at the top to see what the mountain looks like, see what it's hiding from me.

The dictionary defines desert as any region with 10 inches of precip. a year or less. There's a few areas of Arizona that barely qualify, like around "jungle-like" Tucson, where I believe they average 11 inches of precip. a year.

Both states have lots of beauty to offer, but for more isolation and stark beauty, which I crave, then Nevada wins there.

[Clarks]

BTW I like the pictures and would take a wild guess that the first was the foothills of the Rubies. I am 46 years old and have spent half of my life in Nevada and the other half in Arizona. I hope by now it is apparent that I have strayed off payment and I might know what I'm talking about.

It is just one of the 300 ranges in Nevada, far from the Rubies. It is in the Cherry Creek range as I recollect.

There is a sense of space, and a lack of 20th or 21st century in Nevada, along with the the lack of people. Yes, Arizona is scenic, and crowded.

[nickw252]

Originally Posted by Clarks

Nevada is the best state in the Union, at least the part north of the Clark County line and East of the Washoe county line.

I live in Rural Nevada also but I really get annoyed with all the people who absolutely hate Vegas. You do realize that the reason there are no income taxes, good public services, etc. is because of tourism in (mostly) Clark County don't you? Also, Valley of Fire State Park is in Clark County and that is one of the most incredible places I've ever been to.

As far as the deserts go, I've lived in the Tucson area and now live in East Central Nevada - the Arizona deserts are a little greener and seem to have more bio diversity. Either way, they are both beautiful and I love seeing the wildlife (elk, deer, antelope, etc) in the Nevada desert.

Southern Arizona is too suburbanized. There are strip malls, big-box stores, and McMansions every where you look.

[Clarks]

It is true that there are two places of great scenic beauty in Clark County, but, if there were no Las Vegas nor Reno/Sparks, the population of this state would be tolerable, and service would not be needed on the scale they are now.

Arizona is a beautiful state, although, smaller than Nevada and with nearly three times the population.

The beauty of Nevada lies partly in the emptiness of Nevada.