Quick answer: The Stratosphere, now officially called The STRAT, stands 1,149 feet (about 350 meters) tall. That makes it the tallest freestanding observation tower in the United States and the tallest structure in Las Vegas and all of Nevada. Its observation deck and thrill rides sit at the very top, higher than the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
If you have driven into Las Vegas from the north, you have seen it: a single slender tower that climbs far above every casino on the Strip. That is the Stratosphere, rebranded The STRAT in 2020, and at 1,149 feet it is not just the tallest thing in the city, it is the tallest observation tower in the country. Below is the exact height, how it stacks up against other famous towers, what waits at the top, and the easiest way to get there once you are in town.
- Height: The STRAT (formerly the Stratosphere) is 1,149 feet (about 350 meters) tall.
- National record: it is the tallest freestanding observation tower in the United States, and the tallest structure in Nevada and west of the Mississippi River.
- Taller than the Eiffel Tower: at 1,149 feet it tops Paris’s Eiffel Tower (about 1,083 feet) and dwarfs the half-scale replica at Paris Las Vegas (about 540 feet).
- What’s up top: a two-level observation deck (floors 108 and 109), the Top of the World revolving restaurant, and the world-famous Big Shot, X-Scream, and SkyJump thrill rides.
- Where it is: 2000 Las Vegas Boulevard South, the north end of the Strip, roughly 15 minutes from Harry Reid International Airport.
- The tower draws crowds and timed tickets, so arriving by private car instead of circling for parking makes the visit far smoother.
What’s in This Guide
How Tall Is the Stratosphere, Exactly?
The Stratosphere tower measures 1,149 feet, or about 350 meters, from the ground to the top of its spire. The STRAT’s own figures describe the observation deck as sitting at that 1,149-foot height, and Wikipedia records the antenna-spire height as 1,149 feet (350.2 meters). Either way, the number you want is the same: just under 1,150 feet.
To put that in everyday terms, 1,149 feet is a little taller than a 100-story building. The indoor observation deck is on floor 108 and the open-air deck one level up on floor 109, which is why the view reaches clear across the valley to the mountains on a clear day.
The tower opened on April 30, 1996, as the Stratosphere Casino, Hotel and Tower. In 2020 the property was renamed The STRAT, so you will see both names used interchangeably. The height has never changed; only the branding did.
Beyond being the tallest tower in the country, it holds a few other titles worth knowing. It is the tallest structure in Nevada, the tallest tower west of the Mississippi River, and the second-tallest freestanding tower in the entire Western Hemisphere, behind only Toronto’s CN Tower.
Source: The STRAT, Tower and Observation Deck | The Strat (Wikipedia)
The STRAT vs. Other Famous Towers
The height is easier to appreciate side by side. The most common question people ask is whether the Stratosphere is taller than the Eiffel Tower. It is, and it is not even close to the half-scale Eiffel replica Las Vegas built on its own Strip. Here is how The STRAT compares to a few landmarks most visitors already picture.
| Structure | Height | Where |
|---|---|---|
| The STRAT | 1,149 ft | Las Vegas, NV |
| Eiffel Tower | ~1,083 ft | Paris, France |
| Space Needle | 605 ft | Seattle, WA |
| Washington Monument | 555 ft | Washington, D.C. |
| Eiffel Tower replica | ~540 ft | Paris Las Vegas |
The STRAT clears the real Eiffel Tower by roughly 65 feet and stands more than twice as tall as Seattle’s Space Needle. The Eiffel Tower replica at the Paris Las Vegas resort, built to half the scale of the original, reaches only about 540 feet, so The STRAT nearly doubles it from a few blocks away.
Numbers aside, the thing to understand about The STRAT’s height is how isolated it is. Unlike the CN Tower or the Eiffel Tower, it rises alone at the quieter north end of the Strip, with nothing tall nearby. That is why the view from the top is so uninterrupted, and why the tower is visible from almost anywhere in the valley.
Source: List of tallest observation towers in the United States (Wikipedia) | Eiffel Tower key figures
What’s at the Top: Decks and Thrill Rides
Height is only half the reason people ride the elevator up. The top of the tower is packed, with two observation decks, a revolving restaurant, and a cluster of thrill rides that take the altitude and turn it into the whole point.
The observation deck
The SkyPod observation deck spans two floors near the summit: an indoor deck on level 108 with floor-to-ceiling glass, and an outdoor deck on level 109 that puts you in the open air at well over a thousand feet. On a clear day you can see the full length of the Strip, downtown, and the surrounding mountain ranges.
Top of the World restaurant
One level below the decks, more than 800 feet up, the Top of the World restaurant makes a complete rotation roughly every 80 minutes, so your table slowly sweeps the whole horizon over the course of a meal.
The thrill rides
This is where The STRAT earns its reputation. The rides sit higher than any comparable attraction in the country:
A fourth ride, Insanity, dangled and spun riders out over the edge at 900 feet from 2005 to 2023. Because the lineup changes over time, and because wind and weather can close the deck and rides on short notice, it is always worth checking what is running the day you plan to go.
Plan for the altitude, literally: the tower and its rides can close without much warning when winds pick up at 1,100 feet, and the rides carry minimum-height requirements (riders must be at least 48 inches for Big Shot). Buy timed observation-deck tickets ahead, confirm ride availability on the day, and give yourself a weather buffer rather than saving the visit for your last afternoon in town.
Source: The STRAT, Tower and Observation Deck | The Strat (Wikipedia)
Why It’s Called the Stratosphere (and What That Doesn’t Mean)
The name is pure Las Vegas showmanship. When the tower opened in 1996, “Stratosphere” was chosen to sell the sheer height and the idea of rising above everything else in the city. It worked, and the name stuck so firmly that most locals still call it the Stratosphere even after the 2020 rebrand to The STRAT.
A tower named the Stratosphere does not actually reach the stratosphere. The atmospheric stratosphere begins roughly 6 to 8 miles up, around 31,000 to 50,000 feet, which is where airliners cruise. At 1,149 feet, the tower reaches less than half a percent of that height. The name is marketing, not meteorology, so you will not need an oxygen mask at the observation deck.
What the height does deliver is the view and the thrill factor, which is exactly what the name was built to promise. For first-time visitors, that combination, a record-setting tower you can actually go up and ride, is what makes it worth the trip to the north end of the Strip.
How to Visit The STRAT: Location and Getting There
The STRAT sits at 2000 Las Vegas Boulevard South, at the north end of the Strip near downtown, a little removed from the cluster of mega-resorts in the center. That location is part of its appeal for the view, but it also means it is a bit of a trek on foot from the central Strip, and the walk is longer than it looks on a map.
From Harry Reid International Airport, the tower is roughly 15 minutes away without traffic. From the central Strip resorts it is a short drive but a long, hot walk, especially in summer. A few ways to get there:
- From the airport: a direct ride drops you at the door in about 15 minutes, versus wrangling rideshare lines and luggage. Our Las Vegas airport shuttle handles the arrival so your first stop can be the top of the tower.
- From your hotel: rather than walk the north end of the Strip in the heat or circle for self-parking, a chauffeured pickup drops your whole group at the entrance together.
- As part of a day of sightseeing: The STRAT pairs naturally with downtown and the north Strip, so it is an easy stop on a guided local sightseeing route.
For visitors doing the observation deck and a meal at the Top of the World, arriving and leaving by private car removes the two biggest friction points, parking and the walk back, so the height is the only thing that takes your breath away.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How tall is the Stratosphere in Las Vegas?
Is the Stratosphere taller than the Eiffel Tower?
How high is the observation deck at The STRAT?
What thrill rides are at the top of the Stratosphere?
Where is the Stratosphere tower located?
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Sources and Methodology
Tower height (1,149 feet / about 350 meters), the 1996 opening, the 2020 rename to The STRAT, the observation-deck floors (108 indoor, 109 outdoor), the Top of the World restaurant, and the national and regional height rankings come from The STRAT’s official site and the Wikipedia article on The Strat. Ride heights (Big Shot ~1,081 feet, X-Scream 866 feet, SkyJump 829 feet, and the former Insanity at 900 feet, operated 2005 to 2023) come from The STRAT’s attraction pages and Wikipedia; where the two differed slightly on SkyJump, The STRAT’s own 829-foot figure is used. Comparison heights are from each landmark’s figures: the Eiffel Tower (about 1,083 feet to the antenna tip), the Space Needle (605 feet), the Washington Monument (555 feet), and the Paris Las Vegas half-scale Eiffel replica (about 540 feet). The atmospheric stratosphere altitude (roughly 6 to 8 miles up) is standard atmospheric science. Distances and drive times from the airport are approximate and reflect Google Maps. No figures were invented; where sources differed, the more authoritative or conservative value is used.
