Ethel M Chocolate Factory, Chocolate manufacturing facility in Henderson, Nevada

Ethel M Chocolate Factory is a chocolate production facility in Henderson where visitors watch the entire manufacturing process through glass-enclosed viewing areas. The operation displays each stage from raw cocoa handling to final packaging of finished chocolates.

Forrest Mars Sr., who had retired from Mars Inc. in 1973, planned a new venture named after his mother, Ethel Gale Mars, and the factory began operations in Henderson in March 1981. Henderson was chosen for its lack of pollution, since chocolate absorbs odors, and Nevada was one of only two states then allowing large quantities of liquor in candy, which suited the liqueur-filled chocolates. Mars Inc. bought the company in 1988, and Forrest Mars soon moved to Miami.

The company is named after Ethel Gale Mars, Forrest Mars Sr.'s mother, whose recipes the chocolates still use. Its liqueur-filled chocolates, once 5 of 24 varieties, sold only in Nevada because state law allowed large quantities of liquor in candy. Since 1994 the cactus garden has been strung with holiday lights each year, a display that grew to 500,000 lights and takes two months to install.

The location sits about 15 minutes from the Las Vegas Strip and offers free self-guided tours that you can walk through at your own pace. You can enjoy chocolate samples throughout your visit without extra charge.

The adjacent Botanical Cactus Garden covers 3 acres and holds more than 300 cactus and desert plant species, not 350. It opened in September 1981 and drew 300 to 400 visitors a day in its early years. Since 1994 it has been strung with holiday lights each year end, growing from about 50,000 lights to 500,000, a display that takes two months to install.