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Death Valley National Park is home to “The Borax Museum” which is a favorite among tourists and visitors to the area.  The museum is housed inside the oldest standing structure in Death Valley, inside a house built in 1883 by F.M. “Borax” Smith, who founded the Pacific Coast Borax Co.  Borax is a mineral also known as sodium borate, and is commonly used as a laundry detergent due to its cleaning properties as well as being non-toxic. The discovery of borax in Death Valley by an early prospector was met with an investment from a businessman from San Francisco.  The mined borax was hauled to the processing plants by “20 mule teams” due to the harshness of the climate. The Borax Museum itself is located in the Furnace Creek area of Death Valley, and is filled with photos and artifacts that will provide a colorful history and education for the curious.

Death Valley tours are some of the most popular excursions that are offered by the tour companies that call Las Vegas home, and Bindlestiff Tours is no different with Death Valley tours being offered at almost all times of the year.  "There are some points during the summer when it just gets too hot to be safe," commented Rachel Frampton, owner of Bindlestiff Tours.  There are points during the summer months when the area really does live up to it's name, and it gets so hot out there that it is not a comfortable place to visit." Death Valley saw its first 120 degree temperature this year on June 9.  Yes, you read that right, it was 120 degrees in Death Valley in June.  What is truly amazing about this is that it is expected to get even hotter than that in the later summer months.  Here are a few facts about Death Valley that most people might not know: 1. On average, Death Valley California sees 15 120 degree days. 2. June 25 -August 15 are the average first and last days that Death Valley sees 120 degree temperatures each year. 3. In 1917, Death Valley recorded 52 120 degree days. 4. In 2013 Death Valley saw 27 120 degree plus days. Very few places in the United States ever get to see 120 degrees on the thermometers.  Of all of those places, none ever get to reach the temperatures that Death Valley can reach, and as a matter of fact in 2013 Death Valley actually almost hit 130 degrees, falling just one degree short on June 30.  Death Valley actually saw eight straight days over 125 degrees from June until July.  If you were looking to get out of the heat of the day and think that it

Saguaro National Park officials have voiced their opinion that they are opposed to development of the land across from Rincon Mountain entrance.  The opposing opinion to the proposal of development hinges on the fact that it is in close proximity to the park, and is simply too close.  This opposition raises an interesting question regarding national park land, "should there be a development buffer zone around national parks?"  The question is going to be debated heavily from both standpoints, with examples of West Yellowstone at Yellowstone and Gatlinsburg at the Sugarlands entrance to Great Smoky Mountains National Park being used s examples.  In the example of Saguaro National Park, the potential development of the 45 acres of land across from the Rincon Mountain District is deemed by opposition as far too close. There are many examples of development happening within walking or short driving distance of national parks nationwide.  The development of Bar Harbor is within steps of Acadia National Park in Maine, the development of West Glacier is on the western border of Glacier National Park in Montana, Three Rivers Development is next to Sequoia National Park in California and Royal Front Development is steps from the northern entrance of Shenandoah National Park in Virginia.  In the majority of cases of development near national parks, the towns were established previous to the national park. At Saguaro, the disputed area is known as Bike Ranch development, and the opposing viewpoint is to  preserve open space around the entrance to the Rincon Mountain District. The property is located in the Pima County Buffer Overlay Zone, which preserves and protects the open space characteristics within one mile of public preserves, according to park staff. At the Pima County Hearing Administrator in May the proposal of development was strongly opposed by officials.  At

There has been a great amount of discussion regarding federal land and National Parks this year, with many politicians attempting to make a name for themselves by taking up the position that federal land should not belong to the federal government, and instead should be seized by the individual states that the land is bounded by.  This political posturing may be a difference of opinion between the parties, but the potential future of our National Parks may hang in the balance.  By the theory of federal land being transferred to the individual states, the outcome could be current National Parks being sold off to the highest bidders for a variety of activities including development, drilling, exploration, logging,  fracking and pipelines.  While this may seem like something worth considering as it could raise money for cash-strapped states, the consideration must be made to recognize the fact that our unspoiled National Parks cannot be recovered if any of these activities were to take place.  Once they are gone, they are gone forever. A prime example of this fight is happening in Colorado, where Republican nominee Bob Beauprez recently stated during a debate that he supported the seizure of Colorado’s national parks, forests and public lands by the state government, saying “this is fight we have to wage.” He went on to say that if the land were being leased from the state by the federal government, "we would cancel their lease."  His opponent Gov. Hickenlooper retorted by asking where Beauprez planned of acquiring the additional funding that would be necessary to maintain the additional land in question on a state level, pointing out that the additional burden to the taxpayers would be around $200 million annually.  If the costs of battling forest fires is to be addressed, the costs to taxpayers could be in the

TAKE ACTION: URGE THE BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT TO PROTECT PUBLIC LANDS IN SOUTHERN NEVADA! Southern Nevada is an amazing landscape of desert, mountains, and wildlife that offers room to hike, hunt, fish and enjoy the natural scenic beauty. Most of these lands—about 3 million acres—are publicly owned and held in trust for all Americans to enjoy. Overseen by the Bureau of Land Management, they contain designated wilderness areas, important habitat for desert tortoises, rich archeological sites, and many other environmental and cultural treasures. Because these special places belong to us all, we have a say in how they are managed. SOUTHERN NEVADA’S PUBLIC LANDS ARE IN YOUR HANDS—MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD! In Nevada, only 230,000 acres of public land has been permanently safeguarded as wilderness. The land use plan that is being considered and is available for public review and comment by citizens, and  the Bureau Of Land Management has fallen short in properly assessing additional wild areas that are still in need of protection. The BLM identified only another 7 percent of those 3 million acres as having wilderness qualities, and it has proposed to set aside an even smaller fraction—just 1 percent. Numerous areas deserving of protection are either not identified as having wilderness characteristics or not slated for conservation, including Billy Goat Peak and Bitter Ridge in the Gold Butte area, the Middle and North McCullough Mountains, Arrow Canyon, Amargosa Valley, the Virgin Mountains, and Buffington Pockets. These lands not only provide a variety of recreational opportunities, but they also are home to desert tortoises, gila monsters, and kit foxes. URGE THE BLM TO PROTECT WILDERNESS IN SOUTHERN NEVADA. SEND YOUR COMMENT TODAY!

Las Vegas is well known for its glittering lights and casinos, few visitors are aware of the fact that there are thirteen National Parks within a short drive from the city, making it one of the most interesting geographic areas for touring in the United States.  As a starting point, Las Vegas provides a perfect hub, with hotels, lodging, restaurants and entertainment within a short walk of nearly every room.  The choices of entertainment that is outside of the man-made area of Las Vegas Boulevard is possibly the best kept secret in the city.  Below is a list of the fourteen National Parks within a short drive of Las Vegas, and perfect destinations for your next trip: Sequoia and Kings Canyon: Both Sequoia National Park and Kings Canyon National Park are just across the border of Nevada in California.  The two are adjacent to one another, and feature the earth’s largest trees, far larger than any other species in the world. Yosemite: Yosemite National Park features one of the greatest concentrations of natural geological features, and presents a striking difference from Las Vegas.  The area is home to Yosemite Falls, the Toulumne and Merced Rivers, and Mariposa and Merced sequoia groves. Joshua Tree: If you travel south from Las Vegas, you will eventually end up in Joshua Tree National Park.   This park is home to The Joshua Tree, an oversized yucca plant made famous by U2, as well as it’s natural beauty. Death Valley:  One of Bindlestiff Tours most popular getaways, Death Valley National Park is about 100 miles from Las Vegas, and features some of the most rugged and extreme landscapes on earth.  It holds the lowest point on the continent (282 feet below sea level) as well as the highest temperature ever recorded (132 degrees.) Canyon de Chelly: Canyon

In July of 2010, Donna Cooper and her daughter Gina and friend Jenny set out to visit Scotty's Castle in a remote part of Death Valley.  For those unaware of Death Valley, it is a national park near Las Vegas that boasts some of the most extreme climate elements on the planet, complete with the recognized hottest temperature ever recorded.  The heat and dryness of the area, as well as the remote and un-populated aspects, taught the Cooper's a lesson that they would not soon forget, that it is named "Death Valley" for a good reason. The Coopers drove their Hyundai deep into Death Valley National Park, having packed what they believed was enough supplies to comfortably make the trip to Scotty's castle and back.  After making it without incident to the gift shop and purchasing some items, they loaded back into the car for the drive back.  What they did not count on was the 121 degree heat and the fact that the GPS they were relying on was not updated to the latest roads in Death Valley (although few are due to ever changing conditions of unpaved roads.) After getting lost following a quick stop at "The Racetrack" which is a famous Death Valley area, the women realized that they were running low on gas and the GPS was sending them into areas that were obviously not correct.  The car ended up running out of gas in an area called "The Big Trees" where the Coopers had taken refuge in an abandoned building, and were facing the perils of the desert at night.  California Highway Patrol did locate them and got them out safely, so the story has a happy ending. What is to be learned from the example of the Cooper's experience is that it can be

In a recent article on News.com.au in the travel section, the author attempted to put together a list of global travel destinations that provided the best experience based on the grandure of the location itself and weighing it up against the amount of tourists that will also be sharing your experience, in an attempt to find the best travel locations for those who want to experience the landscapes of the world without feeling like you need to take your picture quickly and move out of the way so someone else can take theirs.  In a list that included such exotic locations as Burma, Italy, Morocco and Peru we were not surprised at all to find one of our favorite locations mixed in to the list, and tours of Monument Valley were presented among the 20 best places on earth to visit. What needs to be taken into consideration when judging the best places on earth to visit as a tourist is how many other people are also doing the same thing as you, and potentially making it feel less like you are experiencing the area and more like you are just looking at it through a window.  Bindlestiff Tours has always strived to make our tours more of an experience, and to guide our clients through an area, providing interaction and interesting facts as we move, but not interfering with your experience as a adventurer.  When you enter an area like Monument Valley, you feel as though you are transported back into the Old West, and visions of cowboys riding across the range immediately come to mind.  The beauty of Monument Valley is that in addition to that fantastic landscape of vast sandstone buttes that reach upwards of 300 feet into the air, there will be very little in the

In an article recently released by Huffington Post entitled The Most Photogenic Places On Earth, The Grand Canyon was voted by a group called Veryfirstto as the third most photogenic place on earth, trailing behind Bora Bora and The Great Barrier Reef.  We cannot say we are surprised, as we have always known that the Grand Canyon offers one of the most dramatic geological views that can ever experienced.  Although the article only addresses the Grand canyon from a photographic sense, and the creation of dramatic images utilizing it as a backdrop, we can easily also vote the Grand Canyon National Park as one of the most interesting and beautiful experiences from an adventure tour aspect that can be had anywhere on earth.  Of course we feel lucky that it just happens to be located practically in our back yard, and close enough that we can offer a tour of the Grand Canyon as a single day trip leaving from Las Vegas in the morning and having you back in your hotel room by evening (as well as multiple day camping trips as well,) so we are probably a little biased in our voting. If you are interested in touring the grand canyon in order to photograph the third most photogenic place on earth, Bindlestiff Tours has you covered with our inclusive adventure tour packages which offer not only transportation to the park, an expert guide who is experienced with the area, lunch, hiking and nature walking/photography....we can even arrange for a helicopter ride over the canyon expanse which is sure to not only thrill you but also provide you with an even more dramatic view than the Huffington Post reported on.  The Grand Canyon is one of the deepest and most diverse canyons on earth, and will provide you with

Zion National Park is a recognized National Park, and is open for tours in the Southwest US.  The park is located near Springdale, Utah. Here is a list of some of the interesting facts about Zion National Park: The park is named after the Hebrew word, “Zion.”  This word translates as “a place of peace and relaxation.” In Zion National Park there is an area called Weeping Rock.  In this area, the water that can be seen oozing from the rock surfaces has taken more than 1,000 years to travel through the stone from its source in a natural, underground spring. The popular movie “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” was filmed near Zion National Park, at the ghost town of Grafton. The Virgin River which runs through the park has four native fish species: Virgin River Spinedace, Speckled Dace, Flannelmouth Sucker, and Desert Sucker. Over 124,000 acres of Zion were declared by the US government as wilderness in March 2009, which protects the area against any future development and guarantees the preservation of its natural beauty. One of the most endangered species of bird, the California condor, as well as peregrine falcons are among the many bird species found in Zion.  Currently, there are 288 bird species known to exist in the park. The world’s longest tunnel is 1.1 miles long.  It is located in Zion National Park and is known as the Zion-Mt. Carmel tunnel.  It was opened and dedicated on July 4, 1930. In 2002, the Olympic Torch passed through Zion National Park on its way to Salt Lake City. One of the word’s largest freestanding natural arches is located in Zion’s backcountry.  Kolob Arch measures about 287 feet in length. There are many canyons in Zion that are so well hidden that most early surveyors missed