Lake Mead National Recreation Area in Pictures
Lake Mead National Recreation Area has the distinction of being America’s first designated National Recreation Area.
At over 1.5 million acres, it is also the largest NRA in the Nation.
Lakes are only part of the fun here. In addition to the two largest lakes – Mead and Mojave – there are mountains, wilderness areas, trails, canyons, and wide open space to be explored. Lake mead NRA is a playground all year round, and is a hub for outdoor enthusiasts.
Lake Mead was created by the damming of the Colorado River by the Hoover Dam which began construction in 1931. If you’re visiting Lake Mead, the Hoover Dam is easily visited and tours are offered daily.
Hoover Dam is just a short drive from Las Vegas and is just down the highway from the Lake Mead Visitor Center. While Hoover Dam isn’t a National Park Service site, it is part of the U.S. Department of the Interior and falls under the management of the Bureau of Reclamation.
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Things to see and do
- Explore the Visitor Center near Boulder City, Nevada
- Take a short drive up Lakeshore Road to enjoy the views
- Camping
- Take a day and go to the beach
- Rock Climbing
- Picnicking
- Photography
- Bicycling
- Wildlife spotting
- Boating
- Lake tours
- Fishing
- Swimming
Lake Mead National Recreation Area Hours
Lake Mead National Recreation Area is open 24 hours a day 365 day a year. The Visitor Center is generally open from 9:00 am to 4:30 pm. The Western National Parks Association operates a small bookstore inside the Visitor Center.
Directions to Lake Mead National Recreation Area
Because of the sheer size of the Lake Mead NRA, there are several entrances and ways to get to where you’re going. Directions and maps can be found here.
Lake Mead National Recreation Area Park Stats
Date created: 1964
Annual Visitors: 5,578,226 in 2022
Fun Fact: Lake Mead NRA is the largest of all the National Recreation Areas, and at 1.5 million acres, it is larger in area than all but ten National Parks (most of which are in Alaska).
Visitor Centers and Passport Stamps
The main Visitor Center is located four miles southeast of Boulder City, Nevada. Here you can find stamps for Lake Mead NRA and also nearby Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument which is just north of Las Vegas. Administrative Offices are located in downtown Boulder City, NV. The Lake Mead Visitor Center in Boulder City also offers cancellation stamps for the Old Spanish National Historic Trail which travels through Nevada.
Other Nearby Parks
There are some really great National Parks in Nevada. The closest is Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument just north of Las Vegas. This urban park is not far from Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam and can be easily visited in the same trip. There are some nice hikes here and you may even find some fossils.
Other parks in Nevada are Death Valley National Park and Great Basin National Park. Death Valley NP is just a couple of hours or so from Las Vegas and offers a full day of hikes, breathtaking views, and things to explore. Great Basin is about 4.5 hours from Las Vegas and is colder and higher in elevation. Here you’ll find bristlecone pine trees – some of the oldest trees in the world – and the Lehman Caves which are open for tours. Great Basin is also home to Nevada’s only glacier. These are two very different parks, but both are definitely worth visiting.
For nearby parks outside of Nevada, there is Grand Canyon National Park to the east, Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks to the northeast, and Joshua Tree National Park to the southwest in California.
Have you visited Lake Mead National Recreation Area?
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