6 Best Sights in South Strip, Las Vegas

The acres taken up by the mega-resorts mean that open space is a premium on the Strip, which makes The Park a refreshing departure. Roughly situated between New York–New York and Park MGM, it reaches from the Strip itself west to T-Mobile Arena, home to the city's first professional sports franchise, the Vegas Golden Knights hockey team. Along the way, The Park offers natural touches such as desert vegetation and rock from local quarries. It also has features such as a water wall, shade structures made to look like trees, and a 40-foot-tall statue of a dancing naked woman named "Bliss Dance." Restaurants offer outdoor seating and games for patrons to play while they relax.

The "mountains" of Seven Magic Mountains aren't actually mountains at all; instead they're towers of multicolored stacked boulders standing more than 30 feet high. The art installation from renowned Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone is a commentary about human presence in the desert, and it stands tall about 10 miles south of the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard South and St. Rose Parkway, near Jean. Visitors to the site can walk right up and pose with the towers, making it a popular place for selfies. The exhibit opened in 2016 and was only scheduled to run until 2018, but due to public demand, it's been extended. Watch for signs on I–15 directing you to the parking area. 

The massive Harley-Davidson dealership on the south end of the Strip is ultimate destination for hog lovers. You can window-shop or even buy a bike right off the showroom floor, with financing and even shipping available—or rent one through Eagle Rentals ( 844/378–3060  www.eaglerider.com), which operates a branch office on the premises. There’s also a specialized service department and a riding academy for newbie and experienced riders, some of them including a license waiver. And if you’re looking for Harley merchandise—from vests to T-shirts to onesies for babies—you aren’t likely to find a better selection anyplace else. 

Chocoholics will rejoice at the sight of the two-story West Coast flagship of Hershey's Chocolate, which is a part of the streetscape fronting New York–New York. The attraction stocks more than 800 types of candies and includes a nearly 800-pound Statue of Liberty made of milk chocolate. Visitors can personalize Hershey's chocolate bar wrappers, star in a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup TV ad, marvel at the Kisses and Jolly Rancher flavor walls, or indulge in a chocolate shake, Double Chocolate S'more, or another sweet treat from the bakery.

It's hard to miss this place; the "Pinball" sign is so big, we swear it can be seen from space. This fun facility has more than 25,000 square feet filled with games created between the 1940s and the 1990s, including old wood-rail models, and all of them are available for play for 25 to 50 cents a game. There are more than 350 games, catalogued and mapped on the museum's website. Though this may sound more like an arcade than a museum, it's under the auspices of the Las Vegas Pinball Collectors Club and is a nonprofit with the goal of preserving these pieces of Americana and sharing the joy of the silver ball. All excess revenues go to the Salvation Army.

Churchgoers staying in the South Strip area stagger into this beautiful Roman Catholic church for mass seven days a week. Among the more popular offerings are the Sunday masses, with three in English, one in Spanish and one in traditional Latin.