Spring Mountains Rise Behind Bally’s Las Vegas

Bally's Las Vegas sits on the east side of the Strip at 3645 Las Vegas Boulevard South. The resort opened in 1973 as the MGM Grand, built by Kirk Kerkorian and designed as the world's largest hotel at the time, with roughly 2,100 rooms. A fire in November 1980 killed 85 people, one of the deadliest hotel fires in U.S. history, and led to major changes in high-rise fire safety codes nationwide. Bally Manufacturing bought the property in 1986 and renamed it Bally's Las Vegas. The Spring Mountains, visible to the west, rise to more than 11,900 feet at Charleston Peak, the highest point in the range.

Taken April 2008