Las Vegas Wash

Access to the outdoors is a fundamental human need, and all communities are stronger, healthier, and more connected when everyone is able to get outside and engage with nature. That’s why Trust for Public Land worked with the City of Las Vegas to create parks along the Las Vegas Wash, a 12-mile urban river that runs through ethnically and economically diverse communities in southeastern Las Vegas that lack access to necessary green space. Over the past 20 years and even continuing today, Las Vegas has seen a boom in population, and the city’s master plans repeatedly identify the need to meet the needs of their growing communities, creating parks and improving amenities at key locations like the Las Vegas Wash.

From 2006 to 2008, TPL helped transform three empty and forgotten spaces, often littered with graffiti and debris, into community treasures along the Las Vegas Wash. These incredible parks provide quality green space, trailheads, play and picnic areas, and amenities like restrooms and parking for local residents to enjoy the benefits of nature. The larger vision for this connected park system is to connect federal lands and Floyd Lamb State Park in the north to the Clark County Wetland Park and Lake Mead National Recreational Area in the south.

• Harris Avenue, 4.10 acres, completed in 2006
• Sandhill Park, 4.91 acres, completed in 2007
• Washington Avenue, 4.61 acres, completed in 2007, with an addition of 2.39 acres in 2008

The Las Vegas Wash is an important landscape fixture because it serves as the final link in the area’s water supply and acts as a natural filter as it channels into Lake Mead, southern Nevada’s primary source of drinking water. These parks help protect the integrity of the Wash and provide roughly the size of six softball fields to the city’s park system, so whether taking a leisurely stroll, having a picnic with the family, or letting the kids run around on the playground, there’s something for everyone to enjoy.