Vast desert landscape surrounding two major reservoirs offers opportunities for boating, hiking, camping, and wildlife viewing year-round.

How to Get There

From Las Vegas (30 mi): Take US-93 S through Henderson and Boulder City, then follow signs to Lake Mead National Recreation Area.

Overview

Lake Mead National Recreation Area is a national recreation area in southeastern Nevada and northwestern Arizona. Operated by the National Park Service, Lake Mead NRA follows the Colorado River corridor from the westernmost boundary of Grand Canyon National Park to just north of the cities of Laughlin, Nevada and Bullhead City, Arizona. It includes all of the eponymous Lake Mead as well as the smaller Lake Mohave - reservoirs on the river created by Hoover Dam and Davis Dam, respectively - and the surrounding desert terrain and wilderness.

Formation of Lake Mead began in 1935, less than a year before Hoover Dam was completed. The area surrounding Lake Mead was protected a bird refuge in 1933, later established as the Boulder Dam Recreation Area in 1936 and the name was changed to Lake Mead National Recreation Area in 1947. In 1964, the area was expanded to include Lake Mohave and its surrounding area and became the first National Recreation Area to be designated as such by the U.S. Congress.

Amenities

Lake Mead NRA features water recreation, including boating, swimming, and fishing, on both lakes as well as the stretches of river between the lakes. It also features hiking trails and views of the surrounding desert landscape. Three of the four desert ecosystems found in the United States — the Mojave Desert, the Great Basin Desert, and the Sonoran Desert — meet in Lake Mead NRA. Tours of Hoover Dam - administered by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation - are also a major attraction within the recreation area.

Andrew Cattoir, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons ; Image Size Adjusted

The ghost town of St. Thomas, Nevada is contained entirely within Lake Mead NRA. The town, once entirely submerged beneath Lake Mead, features a two-mile-long loop trail with interpretative signage. It is accessed near the Northshore Entrance Station, just south of Overton.

Wilderness areas

There are currently nine officially designated wilderness areas under the National Wilderness Preservation System lying within Lake Mead National Recreation Area. All are in the Nevada portion. Parts of some of these wildernesses (as indicated) lie outside Lake Mead NRA and are managed by the Bureau of Land Management.

Lake Mead

Lake Mead is a reservoir formed by the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River in the Southwestern United States. It is located in the states of Nevada and Arizona, 24 mi (39 km) east from Las Vegas Strip. It is the largest reservoir in the United States in terms of water capacity. Formed by the Hoover Dam on September 30, 1935, the reservoir serves water to the states of Arizona, California, and Nevada, as well as some of Mexico, providing sustenance to nearly 20 million people and large areas of farmland.

At maximum capacity, Lake Mead is 112 miles (180 km) long, 532 feet (162 m) at its greatest depth, has a surface elevation of 1,221.4 feet (372.3 m) above sea level and 247 square miles (640 km2) of surface area, and contains 26.12 million acre feet (3.222x1013 L) of water.

Recreation and marinas

Lake Mead provides many types of recreation to locals and visitors. Boating is the most popular. Additional activities include fishing, swimming, sunbathing, and water skiing. Four marinas are located on Lake Mead: Las Vegas Boat Harbor and Lake Mead Marina (in Hemenway Harbor, NV) operated by the Gripentogs, and Callville Bay (in Callville Bay, NV) and Temple Bar (in Arizona), both operated by Forever Resorts. The area also has many coves with rocky cliffs and sandy beaches. Several small to medium-sized islands occur in the lake area depending on the water level. In addition, the Alan Bible Visitor Center hosts the Alan Bible Botanical Garden, a small garden of cactus and other plants native to the Mojave Desert. The Grand Wash is a recreational area located in the north side of the lake.

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Lake Mead National Recreation Area", and "Lake Mead", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0