Ethel M Chocolate Factory Tour

Ethel M Chocolate Factory provides free fun for parents and children when visiting Las Vegas. Touring the Las Vegas factory along with visiting the Botanical Cactus Garden is free of charge. Although samples of decadent, gourmet chocolates are given out at no charge, mom, dad, and the kids will find it difficult to leave without buying some of the delicacies to take home.

Forrest Mars Sr., spent his childhood watching his mother, Ethel, create hand-made chocolates in their home in Tacoma, Washington during the early nineteen-hundreds. Forrest retired in 1981 to Henderson, Nevada. Henderson is located on the outskirts of Las Vegas. Forrest created Ethel M. Chocolates honoring his mother continuing to produce chocolates of the highest quality without using preservatives. Children of all ages will enjoy the pure delicious flavor and smooth texture continued down through the years from the kitchen of Ethel since 1911. In 2007 a new line of 48 different handmade gourmet chocolates was introduced. Jin Caldwell, master chocolatier, is credited with the design of this newest line of pure chocolate heaven. Ethel M. Chocolates provides 8 additional locations for vacationing families and locals to buy their products throughout the Las Vegas valley in addition to the factory itself. Other Vegas locations include Fashion Show Mall, California Hotel, Flamingo Hotel and McCarran International Airport.

Mom, dad, and kids visiting Las Vegas will enjoy the self-guided tour available at Ethel M Chocolates. Located just a short 15 minute drive from the Las Vegas Strip, this attraction is a must-see excursion for the whole family. Estimating more than 700,000 visitors each year, the factory, gardens and lounge are free for families to enjoy providing a change of pace from the glitz and bustle of the Las Vegas Strip. Parents and kids alike will be fascinated watching the series of pipes and conveyer belts delivering the finished products. Any chocolate addict will be surely impressed seeing tanks holding 20,000 to 35,000 gallons of pure chocolate. Hmmmmm! Employees at this chocolate factory are latched into belts to prevent accidental falls into the tanks of chocolate. As the summer months of Vegas are extremely hot, mini coolers are provided to everyone preventing the melting of chocolates purchased to take home from their vacation in fabulous Las Vegas!

After touring the chocolate factory, every mom and dad, all little boys and girls will enjoy the Ethel's Chocolate Lounge indulging in samples. Chic and trendy, the lounge provides a wonderful place to escape the heat while the entire family takes a break and relaxes. Inside the lounge you will find amazing chocolate collections, warm fondues, gourmet apples, and chilled beverages for purchase.

Forrest Mars Sr. intertwined his two passions, chocolate and gardening, when creating the factory. Cacti gardening was a natural extension of his interests resulting in the Botanical Cactus Garden located in Las Vegas.

Parents visiting the chocolate factory concerned about eating all those samples can walk off their guilt roaming around four acres of well over 300 species of plants. Ethel M Botanical Cactus Garden provides not only fun and free entertainment for the entire family; the kids will receive an educational experience learning about Nevada's largest collection of drought-tolerant cacti and other succulents.

Construction of the garden included 400 tons of rocks and a base of 15,000 cubic yards of special planting soil and fill thus giving visitors unforgettable viewing experiences. Using English landscaping models, the garden is considered one of the world's largest collections.

Utah Bali Hai chocolate and Arizona moss rock types were used in the design. Cacti and succulents native to the American Southwest display gorgeous flowers adapted to the hot, dry summers of Las Vegas. Desert trees grow beside shrubs brought in from other Southwestern United States locales, Australia, and South America.

Samples of the different kinds of cacti and succulents available for viewing are Variegated Century Plant, Ocotillo, Maguey Century Plant, Twisted Acacia, and Soap tree Yuccas. The kids will enjoy seeing plants called such names as the Teddy Bear Cholla and Desert Milkweed native to the Las Vegas desert. The Ethel M Botanical Garden also includes 'The Living Machine', an acre of waste-consuming ecologies right in the midst of the Las Vegas desert terrain, transforming wastewater into water clean enough for landscape irrigation.

During the holiday season in Las Vegas, the operating hours at Ethel M Chocolates are extended to provide parents and children of both tourists, and locals, the delight of enjoying thousands of lights creating an unforgettable glow covering the entire cactus garden including viewing the lights through 3D glasses. The kids will enjoy visits from Santa, caroling and holiday dancing. This is guaranteed to be a treat found only in the winter wonderland of Las Vegas.

Approximately 10 miles from the Las Vegas Strip, the chocolate factory is just a short distance from Hoover Dam, another fun-filled family destination for those visiting Las Vegas. Both attractions provide a day filled with memories that will be talked about by all!

Ethel M Chocolate Factory is open Monday through Sunday from 8:30 am until 6 pm in the Las Vegas area.

The Las Vegas Chocolate Factory Tour hours are Monday through Thursday from 8:30 am until 4:30 pm.

Located at One Sunset Way, Henderson, NV 89014.

Additional information can be found by calling 702-435-2655 or visiting their website at www.ethelm.com.

The staff at the factory suggest calling or visiting their website to confirm current hours and view a list of special events.