Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument

About Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument

Tule Springs Fossil Beds was designated a National Monument in 2014, protecting 22,650 acres of Ice Age fossil beds at the northern edge of the Las Vegas valley. The site preserves remains of Columbian mammoths, American lions, ground sloths, dire wolves, and other Pleistocene megafauna that lived in the area between 100,000 and 7,000 years ago. The monument is undeveloped — no visitor center, no marked trails, no formal parking lots — and managed jointly with the Las Vegas Paiute Tribe. The most accessible entry is via Aliante Parkway, where a few interpretive signs and primitive paths skirt the fossil-bearing washes. Go with the Protectors of Tule Springs guided walks, scheduled monthly through the National Park Service site. Solo visits are legal but you won't see much without a guide pointing out the bone-bed exposures.