Hoover Dam is in the desert close to Las Vegas. The dam from 1936 was named after the 31st President and is located directly on the Nevada/Arizona border line. The dam retains water in order to provide power for all the states nearby. How this affects the environment can be debated. Yet, the dam has become a major interest for tourists in particular for people visiting Las Vegas.
Arizona/Nevada border and a clock change
Because the dam is located exactly on the Arizona/Nevada border this is where the clock changes. The eastern front of the dam (Arizona) and the western front (Nevada) differ in an hour.
The Hoover Dam is 50 km (about 40 minutes) from Las Vegas (Via I 515 and highway 93/Boulder City). The dam is close to a recovery area called Lake Mead. Hoover Dam is a good stop on the way from Las Vegas to Grand Canyon, no detour is needed on that route.
Hoover Dam – How to Drive
Hoover Dam basically targets tourist, all through traffic is lead to a different route over a bridge in close distance to the dam. Security concerns came up after September 11th and an alternative route including a newly built bridge was established (highway 93 and Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge). In the near future interstate 11 is supposed to connect this bridge to the interstate system. So far, interstate 11 has not been built yet.
The new bridge can be seen from Hoover Dam (see pics).
Parking is available right next to Hoover Dam; the parking garage is build into already existing rock formation and looks very stylish. Parking costs 10 Dollar, the parking garage can be reached from the Nevada side of the dam. Until that point, vehicles have access to the area.
Parking Garage: 81 Hoover Dam Access Rd, Boulder City, AZ 89005, USA
Hoover Dam has some security restrictions. When you cross Hoover Dam in your vehicle, security checks might come. Hoover Dam is not open to all kinds of vehicles; there are certain restrictions for larger vehicles. Information about this is available on the website.
Pedestrians are not allowed to cross Hoover Dam after darkness. That means you need to come here in the middle of the day. Don’t come too late in the afternoon. Always consider when it gets dark and how much time you need to reach and to spend there.
https://www.usbr.gov/lc/hooverdam/index.html
What will I See?
You walk along Hoover Dam, get to see the river, get to see restrained water and can look down along the huge dam. I got dizzy from it. The Colorado River has too little water; you can see it on the pillars of the dam. Some marks have come up over the years. Like this, all these news and reports about water shortage in California become clearer and more alive. It clarifies what water shortage really means.
Tours inside the dam can be booked. We did not do that, we just visited the dam from on top.
Visitors and Traffic
Because Hoover dam can be reached conveniently from Las Vegas and is also located on the main route to Grand Canyon, there are always many visitors around. Even in November, very much in off-season, many pedestrians were walking along the bridge. Traffic was quite messy and slow. The Hoover Dam website writes in summer, long waiting times and traffic jams occur. I’m sure they do. In summer I would definitely recommend coming early in the morning.
I found it quite funny to be standing at the dam and seeing that a new time zone starts just a couple of steps away.
Lake Mead Overlook
Right before the dam, and there is an overlook point to Lake Meat. This spot can be reached by highway 192. Again, you will be able to see that Lake Mead has very little water. The next larger town is Boulder City.
Is Hoover Dam worth a trip?
Yes, it is. It’s a huge building in the middle of the desert. It’s very old, when it was built it was an architectural masterpiece, work of the century. On the plus side: Hoover Dam can be reached easily from Las Vegas and is on the way to the Grand Canyon. A negative thing could be the fact the dam is always busy and full of people. I would plan about one hour of time here, if you want to do the dam tour, a bit more.