Hoover Dam & Historic Railroad Trail, Nevada

 

I finally made it to Hoover Dam after four visits to Las Vegas.  It really is a marvel to behold and it was completed in 1935 which is hard to comprehend that they had that level of expertise back then.  It is hard to believe that in 1941 during WWII they were already driving over the dam.  The dammed-up Colorado River flooded twice in 1916 and the last time in 1983 it continued for two and half months.  If there is a pattern here we should see some flooding in about 25 years in the desert.

Major renovations are occurring at Hoover Dam Visitor Center, unfortunately we were unable to visit.  The tours were still available but we chose to wait until next time we return to a new and improved immersive tour more from the perspectives of the people who built the dam.

You must first go through a Security Checkpoint which consists of opening all of the windows in the car to their fullest and stopping and answering one question, "Do you have any guns or drones?"  Of course, we did not have any but you can not imagine how many cars were pulled over and checked out, only in America!!!

We continued our drive towards the dam, parked in a large parking lot of the Bridge Overlook complete with bathrooms and walked up the stairs towards the Memorial Bridge Walkway where the interstate is.  You can walk the whole expanse of the bridge but we walked approximately halfway just to get a good view of Hoover Dam and needless to say it is bloody high up on that bridge.  If you don't like heights this bridge would be difficult for you.

I had a difficult time taking pictures on the bridge, I don't love heights.

We left that area and drove under the Memorial Bridge and eventually over the Hoover Dam and continued driving to Lot 10 where it was free to park.  

It was a short walk back and over the Dam.  The views are worth it and the water is such an unusual colour.  

Pretty washrooms on the Hoover Dam complete with a brass door and beautiful engraved castings.

They are erecting a memorial area with these two huge gorgeous bronze statues and flagpole already in place.

I am looking forward to coming back.  We achieved all of the above for free.  When we return the tours will most likely be more and they were 15 and 30 US now.  The Visitor Center will remain free this sounds the most interesting to me.  If you had parked in the Hoover Dam parkade or paid lots, they were 10 dollars US.

I loved this gorgeous statue near the parkade.

We began our drive away from Hoover Dam but took a right turn up a short drive to the Lake Mead Overlook, the body of water created by damming up the Colorado.  This body of water is 110 miles long and at its peak, it was 1220 feet above sea level.  In 1939 Hoover Powerplant became the largest hydroelectric facility in the world.  Now the Three Gorges Dam in China is the largest.

Who knew that there was a marina on Lake Mead?

We drove out of the secured area of the Hoover Dam and continued towards the Lake Mead Visitor Center to find the Trailhead and parking for the Historic Railroad Trail.  This railroad was built to supply the construction efforts of the Hoover Dam.  The actual railroad has been removed but the road or trail still remains.

Yellow, white and purple wildflowers dotted the trail.

The trail is 3.8 miles to the Hoover Dam Lookout.  We did not need to walk that far because we had just experienced Hoover Dam.  We walked approximately 2/3 of the way.  I chose this trail because it is flat with limited elevation change.  Darren requested this to give his knee more of a rest.

The trail begins in the desert and works its way up to the mountains and views of Lake Mead are ever-present.  We were walking along a shaved-off mountain area and I heard falling rocks.  I was just about to scream to Darren to 'run' when the sound stopped.  I turned around and 9 Bighorn Sheep were staring at me from up on the hill wondering if I was a threat.  

The lead Bighorn decided I wasn't a threat but he was worried about the other two people walking well behind us and they continued to run down the hill, over the trail and into a gorge below.  

I caught them running down the mountain on video.  We've never seen them and were just talking about them and wondering if they exist in this Nevada area.  We had just passed a sign and we were doubting the sign.  It was really serendipitous that they arrived in such a spectacular fashion. 

We continued on the trail and spotted the first tunnel which is quite cool in more ways than one.  It provided shade and a much cooler temperature inside.  The first tunnel is quite short.  

There are benches along the way for resting, relaxing and admiring the scenery.

My goal was to make it all of the way through the 5 tunnels.  The last was the most spectacular and the longest and it curved.  

There are beautiful views along the way.

There is a rest area after the 5th tunnel a washroom and a water fountain.  I sat on the picnic table under the shaded gazebo and read the 3 interesting posters. 

We rested for about 10 minutes turned around and headed back the way we had come.  It is an in-and-out trail.

I highly recommend this trail for its beauty and historical significance.  It is easy but try and do it early in the day.  We returned to the car, and the large digital parking lot temperature gauge was already 91 degrees.  Apparently, they close the trail at 100 degrees.  A few spots may terrify you on this trail if you are afraid of heights.  The trail is wide, so if you stick to the middle, you should be ok.