So the first week of April my wife and I are going to Vegas for a week. We don’t drink or gamble, just going to get away for a week. We plan to do a fair bit of off roading.

one thing to note, is she doesn’t do dropoffs. If you can look off the edge of the road and see imminent death, we don’t take the road. I wanted to go see Striped Butte and the Geologist’s Cabin, but I think she would freak out on the mountain passes.

One day I know we will be going down to Badwater Basin.
That leaves a lot of days of off roading to be had.

What do you all from the Vegas area suggest? I don’t know what is good to see and I am open to suggestions.

There are several golf courses in that area, and as an added advantage, you can off-road a rented sedan with some success on a golf course.

Not so much off roading since it's just a loop with different hiking trails, but if you haven't seen red rock canyon you should go. I would kill to live near it and not across the country.

Also not a gambler or heavy drinker, but when we were there we threw our 20 dollars in the slots and hung out a few nights when there wasn't a ton to do late. With that in mind, red rock canyon resort is where the locals go, it's quite. Highly recommend seeing a cirque show (assuming they are going on), and if ya can, eat at the one restaurant at the bellagio (small plates) that sits against the front and can see the fountains while you eat.

I don't know much about off roading around Las Vegas but here a re a couple of suggestions that require a little driving.

The Logandale Trails out of Logandale, about an hour north on I-15. We did some trails there but it's years a go.
https://www.lasvegasjeeptrails...20Moab-style%20rocks.

Another adventure but a little further north on I-15 is the Gold Butte National Monument. Old mines, lots of rock art and some great scenery. I explored that quite a bit over a few years, well worth the time. I've used this site on occasion:
https://birdandhike.com/Hike/G...GB_over/_gb_over.htm

Not off roading but I'd drive over to Death Valley NP.

There's a great off-road trip that takes you through a slot canyon about 12 feet wide at some points and into Death Valley. It's on the road past Ryolite called Titus Canyon. You drive past a small ghost town at one point. One caveat is that if there are rain clouds anywhere near the canyon, DO NOT take the road! The slot canyon has flood marks on it up to about 20 feet and there is no where to go if it floods.

Another fun trip, if you want to do a little rock crawling is the Bitter Springs road just outside the Valley of Fire, it will put you onto the road that goes around Lake Mead on the south side of the lake, don't know if you have to pay a fee though.

Lastly, a mostly rock crawling adventure is up Cold Creek Canyon past Lee Canyon turnoff at Mt. Charleston over Wheeler Pass which then works it way down onto the road to Pahrump.

Bear in mind that I haven't been on any of these roads in a few years, so it would be to your advantage to check out accessiblity from a local group (possibly meetup group?) or give the guys at 4 Wheel Parts a call, they might be able to give you some ideas.

Most off-roading that I'm aware of it well outside of Vegas, closer to Pahrump,

This just recently opened, looks interesting, located just past the Vegas 'suburb' of Henderson.
Rail Explorers, Boulder City

Vegas to Death Valley is a 2+ hour haul by itself. If coming from NV through Beatty it’s pretty easy to access Titus canyon and highly recommend and if your going to make the effort to go to DV might as well head up to see the racetrack it’s on a road that a high clearance is recommended but I’ve seen people in rental sedans do it. Titus canyon road from pavement to pavement is another hour or 2 depending how often you get out and look around. If you have just 1 day in DV you can also zip down to bad water. Get up early and make that your entire very long day from LV.

You're from Arizona, so you know "close" is a relative term, and means different things out there than "back east". Here are a couple of ideas from my trips out that way.

Look at Death Valley. In addition to what was mentioned above, a trip to the Racetrack would be fun.

Gold Butte area is neat. You go up I-15 to Mesquite, then around the back side of Lake Mead. A great photography spot there is "Little Finland". It used to be a bear to find, but the interwebz have made it much easier. And I'd guess more popular. Last time I was there, 5-ish years ago, had it all to myself. BTW, that was in my Jeep that I'll be selling. Pic from on top:



Enjoy!

Kane Springs road