Evel Knievel Experience opens its doors today in the Las Vegas Arts District

In a stark black building in downtown Las Vegas, a new Evel Knievel museum traces the rise of America’s most famous daredevil, featuring memorabilia from branded lunchboxes to the Skycycle X-2 rocket used in his 1974 Snake River Canyon jump.

Though the city has changed since Knievel’s jump over the Caesars Palace fountains, the legacy of that moment in 1967 has remained, and now it has a permanent home within the city.

“Evel Knievel took stunt riding to another level and turned it into a worldwide phenomenon, and some of his biggest moments happened right here in Las Vegas,” Gov. Joe Lombardo said Thursday evening during a preview of Evel Knievel Experience: An Interactive Museum of America’s Original Daredevil. “That’s fitting, because Nevada has always been a place where people come to take a chance, think big, and do things nobody else is willing to do. This museum is about innovation, adventure and the kind of bold thinking that has always been part of Nevada’s identity.”

The new Evel Knievel museum opens its doors today at 1001 S. First St., bringing his motorcycles, jumpsuits and other artifacts to downtown Las Vegas in a series of interactive exhibits highlighting his career.

Robert Craig “Evel” Knievel, born Oct. 17, 1938, in Butte, Mont., became a pop culture icon after years of attempting more than 300 daredevil stunts — many of which ended with at least one broken bone.

Perhaps his most famous stunt came on New Year’s Eve 1967, when he attempted a spectacular jump over the fountains at Caesars Palace, ending in a crash landing that left him with a fractured skull and, by some accounts, comatose for nearly a month.

Knievel died Nov. 30, 2007, in Clearwater, Fla., at age 69.

The Arts District attraction traces its roots to the Evel Knievel Museum that opened May 26, 2017, in Topeka, Kan. The institution earned international recognition before announcing in May 2024 that it would close to relocate to Las Vegas.

Mike Patterson, co-founder and CEO of the Evel Knievel Experience, told a packed room Thursday evening that officials didn’t think the museum would ever leave Kansas after it first opened, but the fandom that followed Knievel and his legacy quickly made them realize that something bigger was needed to honor the daredevil — and what better place to build that “something bigger” than Las Vegas, where Knievel completed one of his most daring stunts.

“We saw what the museum meant to people, and actually the emotion that it brought out, and how important Evel Knievel was to so many people in the 1970s that we quickly realized that we needed to do something bigger,” Patterson said. “When we thought about it, there really wasn’t ever a second option or another place we were going to go. Las Vegas was the option to come to.”

That love for the Evel Knievel Museum has remained, even across state and international borders. Patterson noted that the second ticket sold for the new Evel Knievel Experience in Las Vegas was bought by someone from Liverpool, England — highlighting the reach of Knievel’s popularity.

Kelly Knievel, a Las Vegas resident and the eldest son of Evel Knievel, explained that his father had a deep love for the city and had always wanted to move here. He added that his father possessed a charisma, personality and ambition similar to other famous figures in Southern Nevada, including the Binion family, Kirk Kerkorian and Jay Sarno.

That “kind of entrepreneurial spirit” and willingness to take risks was “what’s so synonymous about my dad and Las Vegas,” Kelly Knievel said.

To bring the Evel Knievel Experience to life, Patterson worked with a team that included the Knievel family, principal J Dapper from development firm Dapper Companies, the city of Las Vegas and producer Lathan McKay — who has amassed the largest collection of Evel Knievel memorabilia in the world and provided it to the Evel Knievel Experience.

Attendees of the special preview event Thursday wandered through two floors of artifacts, watching blurry videos of his past jumps and snapping pictures of the world-famous “Big Red,” the gigantic, bright red 1974 Mack truck and trailer that Knievel used on his tours. It was restored by a team of more than 90 craftsmen and recently made a cross-country trip from Kansas to Las Vegas ahead of the museum’s opening.

The new museum also features a 4D virtual reality jump simulator so attendees can experience the thrill of a 16-car jump aboard a motorcycle, and an interactive game where attendees can earn points by planning a jump using some of Knievel’s most iconic bikes, outfits, ramps and props — including a pool of sharks and the Caesars Palace fountains.

Las Vegas Mayor Shelley Berkley said the Evel Knievel Experience is the first museum of its kind in downtown Las Vegas and is sure to be an economic driver for the region, attracting fans of Knievel and lovers of rare items from 1970s Americana.

“This is going to be an extraordinary attraction for people to come and see and enjoy and then continue downtown to enjoy other amenities that the city has to offer,” Berkley said Thursday.

General admission is discounted for youths ages 6-12, groups of eight or more, local residents and military members. Children 5 and younger are admitted free. The attraction will be open daily beginning at 10 a.m., with last entry at 8 p.m. On-site parking is available for $4 per hour. Most visits are expected to last 60 to 90 minutes, officials said.

Tickets are on sale now at ekexperience.com.