Either side of the Grand Canyon, the Colorado river is dammed forming two huge artificial lakes; Lake Powell in Utah and Lake Mead on the Arizona/Nevada border (named after Dr. Elwood Mead, Reclamation Commissioner from 1924 to 1936). This began filling in 1935 following the completion of Boulder Dam, later designated the Hoover Dam after the 31st president, across the river at Black Canyon, 25 miles from Las Vegas. Indeed, it was the construction of the dam and the arrival of thousands of workers which prompted the legalisation of gambling in Nevada and the consequent growth of the city. Before the dam, this area of northwest Arizona was largely unvisited due to the harsh, irregular terrain and the extreme summer temperatures. Now, the lake forms the major component of the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, 1.5 million acres that extends quite far south and includes 25 miles of the Colorado River plus the smaller Lake Mohave.
Lake Mead Map:
 PDF format map of Lake Mead National Recreation Area, from the National Park Service (792 kb).
Hotels: The nearest towns with hotels close to Lake Mead are Boulder City, Henderson, Las Vegas and Overton, while Bullhead City is near to Lake Mohave.
Scenery: Lake Mead flooded a large area of desert, covering many canyons, several small villages and relics of ancient settlements. It is not necessarily a compensation, but this inundation has created a major Southwest attraction which now brings many thousands of visitors each year. They come for boating, fishing, camping, swimming and hiking - the weather is usually sunny and hot, up to 110 °F in midsummer when the water temperature reaches the mid 80's. The scenery is amazing - clear blue water beneath gaunt rocky cliffs, but much can only be appreciated using a boat as the majority of the innumerable sheltered coves and flooded canyons, often with clean, empty beaches for camping, are quite inaccessible by road.
Access: Nevertheless there are rather more access points to the shoreline compared with Lake Powell, especially the section northwest of Hoover Dam which has various beaches, campsites and marinas. In Nevada, road NV 167 (Northshore Road) runs fairly close to the water for 40 miles passing through colorful, empty scenery with a dozen side roads leading towards the water of which three are to developed marinas: Callville Bay, Echo Bay and Overton Beach. The surrounding desert is characterised by gaunt mountain ranges with occasional bright red or orange sandstone outcrops - Valley of Fire is the most spectacular, and also worth exploring, but harder to reach, is the Bowl of Fire, a few miles north of the road near the Callville Bay turn-off. Another scenic location is Whitney Pockets in Nevada.
Campsites: There are a number of free primitive campsites, for example at Stewart's Point, near Overton Beach at the north end of the lake. Here, camping is allowed on a large area of the shoreline, which is flat, sandy and sheltered. The sites nearer Las Vegas tend to be crowded and full of litter but far fewer people drive further north so camping here is very peaceful and secluded.
The Shoreline: There are also several roads leading to beaches on the south edge of the Lake Mead - at Temple Bar, reached by a lonely 28 mile drive along a side road off US 93 south of Hoover Dam, there is a lively marina with an RV site and plenty of colorful desert scenery. Further east, a longer road leads through forests of Joshua trees to
Pearce Ferry, at the far east of the lake where the Grand Canyon begins (or ends). However, the northeast section of shoreline between the Virgin and Colorado rivers remains virtually unvisited - it may only be reached by driving along many miles of dirt roads across the Shivwits Plateau in northwest Arizona, land which is part of the new
Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument.
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More Information about Lake Mead NRA
The Hoover Dam - the dam which created Lake Mead
Lake Mohave - long, thin lake south of the dam |
Places Near to Lake Mead
Las Vegas, Nevada (34 miles from the dam) - world-famous casinos
Kingman (70 miles from the dam) - historic town on old Route 66 |
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