By Barbara J. Petoskey

Las Vegas isn’t just for high-rollers. Hotel bargains abound, especially for those who can visit mid-week or during off-peak times. But once you’ve found the discount room and the cheap buffet, the challenge remains to amuse yourself without blowing your budget on blackjack, craps, baccarat, roulette—well, you get the picture. Here are 10 ways to fill your Vegas days—and nights—with excitement you won’t find back home.

On the Strip
All of the following attractions are within walking distance of each other along Las Vegas Boulevard (The Strip). Overhead trams connect some hotels, making it easier to traverse the length of The Strip.

Siegfried & Roy’s White Tigers
Even if you don’t want to spend major money to see their stage show, you can get a free look of these magnificent animals in their display at the Mirage casino.

The Secret Garden of Siegfried & Roy
The other low budget alternative is this collection of S&R’s exotic animals, also at the Mirage. Here the emphasis is on natural presentation, rather than “show.” First visit the Dolphin Habitat, a true mirage in the desert where you can watch these graceful mammals frolic from above or below waterline in a 2.5 million gallon tank. The shaded Garden houses snow-white tigers, striped white tigers, “white” (actually, light blond) lions, panthers, leopards and an Asian elephant. Paths allow you to approach within a few feet of the fencing. Hours vary by season, with earlier closing times in fall/winter. Fee: $10.

MGM Grand Lion Habitat
There’s more wildlife in town than just the Folies Bergere. Get up close and personal with the lions at the MGM Grand casino. The two parts of their glassed-in habitat are joined by an overhead section; from below you may catch an intimate view of cat paws, tongues and bellies, only much bigger. Free, but the nearby gift shop could cost you a bundle.

Pirate Battle
Beware, landlubbers. In front of the Treasure Island casino, the pirate ship Hispaniola and the British frigate HMS Britannia wage a 10-minute war, replete with flames, booming cannons and toppling masts. See mates plunge from shivering timbers into the lagoon, then do it all over again every 90 minutes after 4 p.m. Free.

In the Area
Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area
Before there was neon, there were geologic splendors even more spectacular. Drive a mere 20 miles west of The Strip on Charleston Blvd. (SR 159) and see the Mojave Desert scrub erupt into the red, pink and tan cliffs of the Spring Mountains and La Madre Range. Within the park’s nearly 220,000 acres, you can hike paths snaking through yucca and cactus, climb the sheer, red face of the Calico Hills, or enjoy scenic overlooks. Open ’til dusk. Fee: $5 per car.

Valley of Fire State Park
When the desert sun hits these irregular peaks of red sandstone, Valley of Fire emblazons its name on the horizon. For maximum effect, take I-15 north about 40 miles to SR 169 and approach from the park’s west entrance. Cruise through the first scenic loop with a stop to view petroglyphs etched by ancient peoples more than a 1,000 years ago.

A seven-mile round-trip drive from the Visitors Center will set your camera clicking as you pass Fire Canyon and Rainbow Vista, heading for the White Domes. Hike a red sand trail back to Mouse’s Tank, a natural basin that may still hold rainfall from months before. Save film to capture the distant view of Lake Mead. Open ’til dusk. Fee: $5 per car.

Hoover Dam
Of course, Lake Mead wouldn’t be there were it not for Hoover Dam, built during the 1930s in Black Canyon to control flooding of low-lying farmland along the Colorado River. Only 30 miles southeast down U.S. Highway 93 you’ll find what’s been named one of the country’s Seven Modern Civil Engineering Wonders, a 726-foot high monument to the ingenuity and endurance of the people who built it. Elevators can take you down near the base of this gray monolith, which dwarfs you with its 3.25 million cubic yards of concrete, or you can drive across the top to Arizona. Guides and videos tell the story of the workers who risked—and lost—their lives for a few dollars a day. Tours are offered 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. year-round, except Thanksgiving and Christmas. Tours: adults, $10; seniors over 62, $8; military and dependents, $8; kids 7-16, $4; kids 6 and under, free. Parking: $5.

Playing the Odds
Be honest, you didn’t come to Vegas for the museums, did you? Mortal flesh can only resist the lure of cha-ching just so long. Sooner or later, you’re going to gamble. If your name isn’t Trump or Gates, avoid the long shot games like Keno, where your chances of winning are roughly the same whether you bet or not. Slots, the low-budget favorite, offer the best odds, and five-cent video poker gives you the most playtime for your coin. Unlike standard slots, which have all the button-pressing entertainment of a touch-tone phone, poker lets you actually use your head to influence the outcome. If you must play the bars-and-cherries, avoid the “progressive” machines with their ever-growing jackpots. The casinos have to cover those rare payoffs somehow, and they do it by reducing the odds on those machines. Cost: dictated by your self control.

Gawking
In a place like Vegas, people-watching can be the best game in town: all ages, all styles, whether toting plastic cups of quarters or dragging oxygen tanks. Take your pick: young, greasy Elvis or old, pudgy Elvis. Brides abound, in the promenades outside hotel ballrooms or perched on stools playing Wheel of Fortune slots. Crapshooters have the noisiest fun.

Casino designers have spent billions to attract your attention. Enjoy their wretched excess: Gondoliers at the Venetian. The ceiling in the registration area of the Bellagio blanketed with huge, vibrant blossoms of glass created by artist Dale Chihuly. The best of Manhattan’s skyline condensed into a single city block at the New York, New York casino. And window-shopping is still free, even when the “windows” look in from the comfort of The Forum Shops at Caesar’s Palace.

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