The Hoover Dam

Skyler, being a bit of a history buff, couldn't pass up a visit to the Hoover Dam. The dam is located right between Arizona and Nevada, on the Colorado River, and creates the little piece of heaven we’d been enjoying for the last few days, Lake Mead. The dam generates power for Nevada, Arizona and California.

We found free RV parking at the Hacienda Casino, which is very conveniently located off of highway 93, about 2 miles up the road from the Hoover Dam, on the Nevada side. The casino is also where you can get on the Historic Railroad Trail, a 3.3 mile one-way trail that follows old railroad tracks to the Hoover Dam and goes through 5 tunnels. We got out our bikes and biked the trail, with more great views of Lake Mead.

Biking the Railroad Trail

Views of Lake Mead from the RR Trail

There is a cost to visit the Hoover Dam visitor’s center ($7), and the America the Beautiful Pass is not accepted here, but if you can skip the visit to the info center, and you’re OK with a self-guided tour of the dam, then the visit is free. The railroad trail leads you right to the parking garage for the dam. There you can freely explore the dam, walk between Arizona and back, and see both sides of the dam. When we were there, there were tons of visitors milling around, which was a bit of a surprise to me.

The south view off of Hoover Dam

The Hoover Dam

The north view off of Hoover Dam

Sky was impressed. :o)

To see more pictures of the dam, click here.

Happy Dam Viewing,

M.

P.S. Here’s an oldy but a goody: What did the fish say when it swam into a wall?