Compare the drives

Las Vegas sits between two very different mountain drives on the same freeway. These pages put them side by side, with the live verdict for each, so the choice between them is made on today's road, not on habit.

Mountain Pass vs the Virgin River Gorge

I-15 out of Las Vegas has two signature drives, and they could hardly be less alike. Southwest, toward California, the freeway climbs over Mountain Pass, a high desert summit where the worry is altitude: winter snow, ice, and wind on an open, exposed grade. Northeast, toward Utah, the freeway drops into the Virgin River Gorge, a winding river canyon where the worry is water: tight curves, rockfall, and flash floods fed by desert storms. Same freeway, same valley in the middle, two completely different drives. Which one deserves your caution depends entirely on the season and the sky, and this page compares them so you can read the right verdict the right way.