Photo: James Marvin Phelps, Neowise
Lake Mead National Recreation Area, is the USA’s fifth most popular national park unit with more than 7 million visits a year. For the first time since it was created in the 1930s, a federal water shortage has been declared for Lake Mead, including mandatory water cutbacks in 2022 that will affect Arizona, Nevada, and Mexico.
Key Links
Lake Mead National Recreation Area
News
Plan your visit
Things to do
Camping
Virtual Museum
Facebook
Flickr
YouTube
@lakemeadnps
Questions
- Is the park dog-friendly?
- Where can a visitor rent a boat?
- What would locals like others know about Lake Mead?
- What are the interactions among the park and nearby communities?
- Are there videos about the park?
Google Maps
goo.gl/maps/WEbF3pAsbeounGgx5
History
With the creation of what would be named Hoover Dam, Lake Mead was first established as the Boulder Dam Recreation Area in 1936, administrated by the National Park Service. The reservoir created by the damming of the Colorado River became Lake Mead, named after Elwood Mead, the Bureau of Reclamation commissioner at the time.
Amenities include campgrounds, hiking and biking paths, and boat rentals.
Beaches and Marinas
We are fans of the beaches and marinas.
Bathtub Ring
A high-water mark or “bathtub ring” is visible around the shoreline of Lake Mead. The bathtub ring is white because of the leaching of minerals on previously submerged surfaces. The bathtub ring generates automatic attention and you’ll notice that many of the restroom facilities are located further from the water’s edge than they used to be.
FYI
The top of the white ring is about 140 feet above the current lake elevation.
The last time the lake was at full capacity was in 1983.
Albeit artificial, Lake Mead is Nevada’s only lake with an exit to the sea.
Lake Mead National Recreation Area is the size of the state of Delaware.
Elsewhere on the Web: Bird and Hike
Bird and Hike – @Jlboone
Be Lake Friendly
Boating
boatinglakemead.com
rental-rates
Headlines
Lake Mead’s decline points to scary water future in West
‘The pie keeps shrinking’: Lake Mead’s low level will trigger water cutbacks for Arizona, Nevada – @ByIanJames
7.5 Million People Visited Lake Mead National Recreation Area in 2018
Historic Railroad Trail
nps.gov – virtual tour video
Willow Beach
nps.gov
willowbeachharbor.com – Facebook – @willowbeachnv
wagwalking.com
Kingman Wash
Bird and Hike
Wikipedia
Amazon.com
Colossus
St Thomas
Misc
Playground and power source
Wikipedia
Lake Mead
Nearby
Planeta.com