US Map / Cities / Henderson

Henderson Map

Henderson is Nevada's second-largest city, filling the southeastern corner of the Las Vegas Valley between the resort corridor and the hills that hide Lake Mead.

Where is Henderson?

Henderson is in southern Nevada, about 15 miles southeast of downtown Las Vegas and directly adjoining it — the boundary between the two runs through continuous development, and the Las Vegas Strip's southern end is only a few minutes from Henderson's western edge. North Las Vegas sits on the opposite, northern side of the same valley. Beyond Henderson to the southeast the built-up area stops abruptly at the hills, with Boulder City and Hoover Dam past them. Los Angeles is roughly 270 miles southwest and Phoenix about 300 miles southeast, both a long day's drive across desert.

Henderson at a glance

Henderson in Nevada

Henderson, Las Vegas, North Las Vegas and Paradise are all in Clark County, which holds close to three-quarters of everyone in Nevada — the Nevada county map shows how empty the other fifteen counties and Carson City are by comparison. Henderson is a suburb in the ordinary sense, but it is a large one: it has more residents than any Nevada city except Las Vegas itself, including Reno 430 miles to the northwest. Carson City, the state capital, is further still. The Nevada state page explains how a state this large ended up with nearly all its people in one southern valley.

Desert basin and the road to Lake Mead

Henderson climbs. The valley floor on its western side is around 1,600 feet, while the southern neighborhoods run up onto the flanks of Black Mountain and the River Mountains, several hundred feet higher, with the highest streets giving a view back across the whole basin. Those mountains are the barrier between the city and Lake Mead, the reservoir the Hoover Dam raised behind it on the Colorado River about 15 miles east. The setting is the Mojave Desert: under five inches of rain in a normal year, and washes rather than streams. The city exists because of the Second World War — a magnesium plant was built here in 1942 to supply the war effort, the town grew around the workers, and Henderson incorporated in 1953 once the plant's future was settled.

Cities near Henderson

Las Vegas and North Las Vegas are immediate neighbors; the next cities of any size are Phoenix, Los Angeles and Reno. Nevada keeps Pacific Time despite sitting east of California — the time zone page explains where that boundary runs.