Benjamin Spillman

bspillman@rgj.com

You don't need a passport to go to a Nevada State Park. But it might make the experience more fun.

That's what state officials, including Gov. Brian Sandoval, are hoping for with the launch of Nevada State Parks Passport program.

They gathered Wednesday at Lake Tahoe Nevada State Park, Spooner Lake, to celebrate the launch with Sandoval being the first visitor to have his passport stamped.

The idea is to encourage people to learn more about parks throughout the state and visit places they might have previously overlooked.

The passport is a small booklet that's similar in size to an actual passport. It's got general information on the state park system on the first page, a map that shows the location of each park within the state.

It also features one-page mini-profiles of every state park. The profiles include brief facts on each park, symbols for what activities and facilities each park offers and email and phone contact information for each park.

The final few pages are set aside as a "travel log" with space for people to make their own notes.

According to the most recent state data available, Nevada State Parks saw 2.8 million visitors so far in 2014. That's about the same number who visited in 2013.

Valley of Fire State Park in Clark County was the most visited park of 2014 with nearly 480,000 visitors so far this year, according to the data. Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park near Gabbs has recorded the fewest visits so far with 5,819.