Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Excursions East of Las Vegas
Boulder City
1
Hoover Dam
3
Lake Mead
2
St. Thomas
5
Valley of Fire
State Park
4
0
10 mi
Logandale
0
10 km
Overton
MOAPA RIVER
INDIAN RESERVATION
169
VALLEY
OF FIRE
STATE PARK
5
169
Overton
Beach
State
boundary
15
4
Visitor
Center
93
NEVADA
15
NEVADA
Area
shown
Las Vegas
Area
shown
UT
93
CA
Las Vegas
Echo
Bay
AZ
to Las Vegas
147
L A K E M E A D
L A KE MEA D
Lak e
Mead
2
Boulder
Basi n
Temple
Bar
N A T I O N A L
N A TIONA L
Henderson
3
Hoover Dam
(Boulder Dam)
R E C R E A T I O N
REC REA TION
93
1
A R E A
A REA
Boulder
City
93
95
93
95
ARIZONA
For a tour more adventurous than those at the dam, the closest you can get to
being in the structure (without jumping) is
Black Canyon River Adventure
(in the
Hacienda Hotel on Hwy. 93, just outside of Boulder City;
%
800/455-3490; www.
blackcanyonadventures.com;
$
83 if you drive yourself,
$
116 if transportation is
provided from Las Vegas).
A motor-assisted raft departs from the base of Hoover
Dam and makes its way along the Colorado River through majestic, fjordlike
Black Canyon, as guides discuss the history and geology of the landscape. Every
now and again the raft is moored to allow passengers to swim or splash around
(so important when the weather is steamy). Though pricey, the tour includes
lunch and lasts about 3 hours. There's no white water involved, so it's even
friendly to the weaker of heart. It ends on Willow Beach, where a tour bus waits
to return you to your hotel or to the Hacienda Hotel.
On the way to Hoover Dam, you'll drive through
Boulder City,
the former
government-owned reservation that was built to house the dam workers. Now a
town of about 15,000, Boulder City is the only town in Nevada where gambling
is illegal—a law harkening back to the days of government control that residents
have opted to keep.
