A Day at the Hoover Dam: All Your Dam Essentials!

Just a short drive (about 30 miles) outside of Las Vegas sits one of the most well-known, yet sometimes misunderstood American landmarks. The Hoover Dam is located near Boulder City, Nevada in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, directly on the border between both Nevada and Arizona. Constructed between 1931 and 1936, this engineering feat was the result of thousands of workers, many of whom (over 100) lost their lives during the construction process. Did you know that it was originally called the Boulder Dam until 1947 when Congress then formally renamed it the Hoover Dam?

The dam ultimately created Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the United States by volume, as a result of controlling the amount of water flowing through the dam downstream into the Colorado River. Since the creation of Lake Mead, it has steadily grown into a popular recreational spot for both locals and tourists for a wide variety of water related activities and sports. Lake Mead sits within the boundaries of the Lake Mead National Recreation Area which is managed and maintained as a division of the National Parks Service (NPS.) For more information and details regarding the diverse water activities and other details regarding Lake Mead check out the NPS site here: Lake Mead National Recreation Area (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)

There are three main benefits, or functions, of the dam. These include protection of southern California and Arizona from frequent flooding which use to ravage these areas prior to the dam's existence, providing water to irrigate thousands of acres of farmland across the region as well as general water supply to many cities and regions across the Southwest, and lastly significant power supply to these same cities including Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Las Vegas.

To access the Hoover Dam you must utilize the Hoover Dam Access Road which exits from Interstate 11 just northeast of Boulder City, Nevada. Once on the Access Road you will drive a short distance until you reach the security checkpoint where your vehicle will be inspected. Once through the security checkpoint it's just a few minutes drive down the remaining mile or so stretch before you reach the dam itself.

As you begin to approach the dam, you will first come to the Boulder Dam Bridge parking lot on your right. Here you can park and walk over to a view point atop the highway bypass route (Interstate 11) also known as the Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge. Here you will have some amazing views from the bridge just overtop the Colorado River looking upstream towards the Hoover Dam.

After this stop, your next potential stop would be the dam itself. Just a little further up the access road you'll come to the Hoover Dam. Just before the dam on the left is another parking garage. The garage costs $10 to park but is directly across from the western edge of the dam limiting how far you have to walk to get to the dam. It also sits next-door to and is connected to the Visitor Center. In addition to the parking garage, if you drive across the dam via the access road you will reach a lower and an upper parking lot on the opposite, eastern side. The lower lot also costs $10 dollars to park but the upper lot is free, although you will have to walk a little further distance back down towards the dam.

Other than potentially paying to park, visiting the Hoover Dam will not cost you anything as you can walk all the way across the dam and enjoy the views at your own pace and on your own time. However, if you want to explore the site further and learn more about the history and function of the dam, you may want to check out the Visitor Center and/or possibly take part in one of the guided tours.

Tours are open daily between 9:00 AM and 5:oo PM (with the exception of Thanksgiving and Christmas Day.) It is important to note that dam tour tickets can not be purchased online and are only available in person on a first come, first served basis. A one hour tour of both the dam and the powerplant will cost you $30 per person and includes access to the Visitor Center as well. If $30 is not quite in the budget for your trip, you can pay $11 for a shorter 30 minute tour of just the powerplant which still includes access to the Visitor Center. If a tour is not your style, you can stop by the Visitor Center, open from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM daily. It costs $8 for admission to the Visitor Center. The Hoover Dam Visitor Center offers multiple educational exhibits, interactive displays, and films about the dam and the construction process. Also at the Visitor Center is a rooftop viewing deck. This is also where you can purchase your tour tickets. To learn more about what you can do at the Hoover Dam and how to purchase tour tickets click here: Hoover Dam | Bureau of Reclamation (usbr.gov). If you just plan on checking out the dam and the views from the access road and view points, you likely will not need much more than an hour of time at the Hoover Dam. If you plan on including a trip to the Visitor Center and/or one of the tours, you may need as much as two to three hours to complete it all. If you have an entire day around the area, I would highly recommend taking some time to explore both Lake Mead as well as Boulder City. Lake Mead is naturally beautiful and offers a multitude of water activities for all ages. In Boulder City you will come across some unique shops and restaurants (they even have a brewery) when walking around the small, downtown area. Whatever you decide to do when visiting the Hoover Dam, be sure to take the time to enjoy the views and try to learn a few fun facts about it's history and ongoing importance to the southwest region.