my Next Trip Idea: Catch a Downtown bus to off-strip casinos

My Vegas trips include, but not always acted on, visiting casino's I've yet to see. While these casinos may not be big draws otherwise, I read something in their reviews to want to see them for myself. My next trip has my arrival at noon on a Friday after 4 1/2 hours on the road since the private jet is heldover for some guy named "nate". Or "Steve". Anyway, after check-in at The D I will be in no mood to drive or maintain my sobriety so I found a few single-ride bus routes that pique my interest.

The Rancho Fun Run
Texas Station is 28 minutes from Main Street and Carson on the 106Rancho line. Across Lake Mead Blvd is Fiesta Rancho. Might be a little bit of a walk from the Fiesta to get to the southbound stop for the trip home so a double-tap at the Texas might be in order.

The 113 to Toledo
From 4th St and Fremont\Carson ride the 113\MAX for 14 minutes to
Jerry's Nugget. Or stay on the 113 and get off at the Silver Nugget up the street. The MAX shares the 113 route 5am to 7pm but doesn't stop at the Silver Nugget. This is my front-runner for my Friday afternoon lark. I will come back Downtown to decide if I have the time and patience to visit Texas Station right after this. A typical bus ride between these is 20 minutes on the 210LakeMeadBlvd from the Silver Nugget. That's after the walk in the heat and a wait at the stop on Lake Mead. Meh. I'm in no hurry and a trip back to the room for a Jack and Coke will make for a good plan.


This is my Saturday Mission, should I choose to accept it. It sets up well with short hops after the initial bus ride and a whole day to stop and smell the flowers.

The Boulder Highway Xpress Casino Crawl
Eastside Cannery is an eye-brow raising 29 minutes from Ogden and LVB on the BHX Southbound. I have to see this casino eventually. Too many positive reviews on this site. Plus I hear they have free drinks.

Get on BHX Northbound for 6-8 minutes to AZ Charlies East. After some comp-chasin' craps and more free casino beer hop on the BHX Northbound again for 3-4 minutes to get to the

Boulder Station. I have a Station players card from the Fiesta Henderson. They passed the "Do I like playing here?" test so it's time to feel the love at other Station casinos. We'll see how long $100 lasts me at their crap table.

20 minutes on the BHX Northbound and you're back at Ogden and LVB.
Sam's Town is on this route but I've been there before. Nice place to watch greyhounds race.
The Western is on this route but I heard it closed? It was on my "Yet to See" list. It would have made a nice "last stop" with a short walk back to FSE.

If I feel a little more frisky
It's just a Jump to the Left...
From FSE and Main Street, Casino Center Drive or LVB you can catch a 4 minute ride from any one of several buses (busses?) to the Bonneville Transfer Center where if you don't mind layovers and transfers you can get anywhere in Vegas.

Hop on the 206Charleston to get to AZ Charlies Decatur. I really want to see this casino so if I don't make the bus trip I'll drive over for a steak at Ron's. I have some food comps on my ACE PLAY card amassed in Laughlin at the Aquarias. There may be a 2000 foot walk from Charleston so stay on the east side of the street and pick up the northbound 103Decatur. If I do drive here I'll consider visiting The Cannery Hotel and Casino afterward. Otherwise it's the 105MLK to the 219Craig. That's alot of bus if you have a car.

I read good things about the RTC service. Google Maps has been a wonderful resource. Zoom in and it shows the bus stops with times, connections and links to it.

That's the Plan and I hold the right to stick to it or not.

 

I am staying downtown in late Sept. and planning on doing the bus trips also. My tentative trips are Henderson via HDX, Aliante/Santa FE/Texas/Fiesta via Craig Rd and Rancho from Simmons, and Rampart/Suncoast/Red Rock via WAX and SX.

I have done the Boulder crawl before. As a BJ player, I would substitute Longhorn (across the street from EC) for AZ Charlies. Also if you can navigate down to Sunset Station (very nice property) and Jokers Wild ($1 craps-10X odds) you won't be dissapointed.

I am also contemplating getting to SSTT via SDX to catch a bus to Silverton and South Point. However, then I would cheat and taxi from SP to M, and taxi from M to Green Valley before bussing back to SSTT to catch SDX back to downtown.

Bus fare for 5 days is $20. $10 for 60+?

I would be interested in your travels via a trip report if you have time.

 

Not a bus person, but if you make it to Texas Station, short hike to Fiesta and if you like Mexican, Garduno's is really good
They don't open until 4 PM, but I highly recommend them and their margaritas

Also free direct shuttle from The Cal to Sam's Town beginning at ~8:30 AM and continuing throughout the day. I think it departs about every 50 minutes or so. Catch it on the east side of The Cal.

 

Good ideas to try something new. I think an out of the way place on my next trip will be time well spent. Tell us here about your adventures when you return!

Jimbo338

 

for the boulder run - check out the sams town shuttle schedule. i usually take the free shuttle there from downtown and then bus it back. its quicker than the bus and brings you right to the entrance.

you can also do it reverse, bus to boulder/arizona charlies and then shuttle from sams back to downtown. i dont usually do it this way because i dont like being dependent on a timed shuttle to leave somewhere. arriving is okay with me though.

 

If you're doing Texas Station and Fiesta Rancho, you could always add Wildfire. It's across the street and south from Texas Station. It might be worth a visit if you're in the area.

 

Thanks for the replies

I didn't notice the Wildfire or the Longhorn before so "Thanks" for pointing them out. I can checkout the Longhorn first thing off the bus. The Wildfire is on the right side of the street to catch the bus home so I can wait in the air conditioning.

I probably won't get to Sam's Town this trip but the Shuttle would be good for a backup ride unless I bite the bullet for the cab.

A Margarita at Fiesta sounds good. No salt, rocks.

 

When is your next trip?

 

July 27-28 at The D. Got a flier in the mail for 3 comped nights July 1 thru Aug 31. After that I get 2 more comped nights until Sep 30 which I'm using Sept 7-10 for NFL Week 1.