When in Las Vegas, you will want to experience the nightlife and have all the fun of your lifetime. However, when getting touristy during the day, you would not miss the seven magic mountains.
Yes, we are talking about that famous place you saw so much in movies or TV series. Possibly there is no single soul on this planet who doesn’t want to go there at least once.
Mainly famous for its busy nightlife and great casinos, there is one place called seven magic mountains, which you will not want to skip.
To be more specific, seven magic mountains is kind of new to the picture. The year was 2016 when Ugo Rondinone, an artist from Switzerland, did this incredible artwork in a desert ten miles away from Las Vegas. This particular place was meant to be running for two years. But due to its vast popularity, this place is open for all even today.
Seven magic mountains is located in and sponsored by the Nevada Bureau of Land Management. So, this place is accessible for everyone.
Table of Contents
The significance of Ugo Rondinone
This place has boulders around and was available during that time when Ugo Rondinone was here. It was one of the reasons behind choosing this particular location for building this tourist spot. Moreover, this place in Nevada practically shares a profound bond between nature and manufactured things. You can see that seven magic mountains enhance the attraction of Las Vegas and add uniqueness to the grandeur of the place.
Combination between nature and artificiality
Nature bestowed goodness here in the forms of beautiful mountains. Further, the Jean Dry Lake in the background and the desert topped that up.
On the other hand, there are the high roads and the pressure of traffic, which goes from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. If you don’t have much time to visit the place, there is another possibility that you can see it while passing by.
The whole building process
They started the whole process by chopping off the boulders which were to build the mountains. The place was developed in December 2015, and the entire work was done by taking specific steps one at a time. First, the more giant boulders were chopped into small pieces, and when the rigid center, portions of them were removed after creating a dent in the center.
Then Ugo Rondinone chose boulders that gave a proper shape to the mountains. As soon as the whole building process of the seven mountains was finished, the last step was started by creating some artwork on every boulder.
The history of the seven magic mountains
As we said earlier, this place was sponsored by the Nevada Museum of Art and the Art Production Fund. The place was inaugurated for tourists in 2016, and the authorities planned it to be running for two years. But it was admired by so many people that they permitted it to be open for some time more, and at the end of the year 2018, they gave it the validity period of three more years which is effective till the end of 2021.
Well, no one knows for how long this place will stay open, but we know that some repair works were done in December 2020. So we can speculate that this place will still kick for a few more years after the validity period.
Tips to visit Seven Magic Mountains
The following points will answer how to visit this place and enjoy the beauty of this creation:
How to go there if you are in Las Vegas?
If you are in Las Vegas and want to see seven magic mountains, you need a car. You can take no public vehicle to go there as there aren’t any. From the central area of Las Vegas, take the I – 15 to Sloan Road and then take the left side to Las Vegas Boulevard for seven miles while you will notice this fantastic place on your left.
What if you are in Los Angeles?
If you are in Los Angeles, it would be pretty easy for you to go there. Just go north on I – 15 to Jean Nevada and then go to the right side on NV 161 to Los Angeles Boulevard. Go further five miles north, and the place will be on your right.
Where will you park your car?
You should know that a parking space is free of cost inside as parking on the street is not allowed here. Also, you will find absolutely no privileges once you are inside. A passage is not paved to lead you from the parking garage to the actual place.
Important things to know before you go
You don’t need any prior experience in hiking, but this passage can create problems for specially-abled people who use a wheelchair, especially after rain. It would help if you kept the weather in mind because this place was originally a desert. So, the maximum temperature can go quickly upto 104 degrees F in summer. So don’t forget to fetch some sunscreen, water, sunglasses, and food.
Are there any guidelines?
There are so many interpretations written in this place that will help you comprehend the meaning of real artistry. You will find it hard to believe, but proper guidance is available through your smartphone on this tour.
What are they trying to tell us?
The seven magic mountains are not only just a sore sight for your eyes; they exhibit to tell us something. The long desert lies before humans while so many generations have been born and died throughout time. Even Ugo Rondinone himself said that the seven magic mountains bring out the regularity and the compactness between man’s simulated and psychic instincts from the beginning of time.
How much did it cost to build up this place?
As you can imagine, a large amount of money was needed to build up this place properly. So, it was about 3.5 million dollars. But it is a program for public entertainment, and a large amount of money was collected from the taxes. The rest of the amount was collected when the Nevada Commission on Tourism donated 100,000 dollars.
Is this place always accessible?
The best thing about this place is that it doesn’t have any visiting hours or closing days. Everyone can enter at any time of the day and spend as much time as they want. Both the mountain area and the parking garage are accessible for all whenever you go there.
What is the right time to go there?
You can go there while on vacation anytime if you want. But we recommend that if you don’t want to tolerate that scorching temperature, you might want to choose a safe passage between morning and high noon except on the weekends. This is how you can get rid of the rush which generally gathers during weekends.
Can you take pictures?
Seven magic mountains are a very selfie-friendly zone if you are so photogenic and keen to keep your followers updated on Instagram. Once you go there, you will see plenty of people trying to find suitable spots to take pictures.
How much time will you need to finish visiting the place?
If you want to know in advance how much you will need to keep in hand to enjoy this place properly, we say that one hour only is enough to finish visiting all of that place. You can walk through the beautiful art formations, imerse in the maze, or click enough selfies and return to the parking lot within the said time.
Are there any dinners around the place?
The seven magic mountains is that kind of place which is quite near to the central location and yet somewhat distant from the usual wildness of Las Vegas. As a result, you will find few facilities available here like fine dinners or fancy shops. But if you go south for five miles from the parking area, you will reach a tiny town called Jean, and here you can see a truck shop and a steakhouse.
Will you be able to visit at nighttime?
The answer is yes; you can go there at night. But there are certain things which you need to keep in mind before you go.
You can already assume that this place is distant from the regular tourist spots. So, if you decide to go there at night, you will find that there are no lights to illuminate your pathway. You will need to turn on your smartphone’s flashlight, or you have to depend on the moonlight if you are lucky enough. So we recommend you to visit during the daytime to get a better view.
Seven magic mountains cost
Now comes the question of exactly how much the seven magic mountains cost?
Well, the answer to this particular question may be the most simple one yet. This place is free of cost for everyone, and you don’t have to pay any money for visiting the entire artwork. You will need absolutely nothing to get in there.
You can enjoy the beauty of the monuments and the rocks without any cost. Also, you are free to go anytime, anywhere in the entire desert and check them all out.
Seven magic mountains quotes
This last section will talk about seven magic mountains quotes that are pretty famous these days. But the bestquote among those is what the creator Ugo Rondinone himself has told. When he created this place, he wanted to do something different that would mean something.
Ugo Rondinone’s verdict
He quoted that the seven magic mountains exhibit is an interpretation of agglomeration and succession throughout the years. This interpretation is also applicable to express a bond between human and mother nature. A bond that goes between what is real and what is made believe.
It was the same as it was 100 years ago, and it is also quite relatable at present. The thing that is the center of this mixture of opposites is none other than the idea of achieving something bigger than ourselves.
As we said earlier in this article, this place is very near to the center of Las Vegas, and yet once you go there, you will see that it is something different from the rest of the places in the sin city. This place contains symbolism, and if you look closely, you certainly can feel that. The vastness of the desert will make you question yourself what exactly your place is in the universe.
On the other hand, the man-made artworks are symbolic enough and are the interpretation of the fact that man has a very important part to play in this entire universe, a vital role. But a man should not forget his roots or what his actual origin is. It kind of looks like that this place is trying to do the balancing between the natural and the artificialities.
What you take back
It is often said that what you do in Vegas, you leave everything there. But this is not true when it comes to the seven magic mountains. Do you know why that is?
That’s because once you decide to go there and see for yourself why this place is so unique, you will make some new memories which will stay with you for the rest of your life. This is something that you don’t want to leave behind, not really. So hurry up before, for some reason, they accidentally decide to close this place to the public. In that case, your wish to visit the seven magic mountains will remain only as a dream.