Want to read a more personal experience with visiting Hoover Dam Las Vegas? You’ve come to the right blogpost! Located near Boulder City, Nevada the Hoover Dam has been open since 1936. The highly populated Dam is visited by nearly a million tourists a year, who also visit Las Vegas and enjoy road trips through Nevada and Arizona.
Hoover Dam Las Vegas
Driving to Hoover Dam
Leaving our hotel room at the Excalibur, we took the car from Las Vegas to drive south to Hoover Dam for the morning. It was going to be far too hot to walk right outside on the famous Las Vegas Strip and we had some free time to explore so we didn’t want to miss the chance to see the famous Hoover Dam.
Within 45 minutes by car we were arriving and parking in a free designated area for the Dam on the south Arizona side, instead of the paid parking area. Plus to get to the free parking you can drive over the Dam also for free! It didn’t take us long to find a parking spot, and so we took our hats and water bottles and walked down the road to be greeted with the panoramic view of the Dam from the Arizona state.
The Dam
We were first viewing the overflow area, bone dry from the very hot sunshine. Following the flow of people walking over, we took in the art deco design that could be seen on the walls and floors of the architecture.
Situated in Black Canyon on the border, it holds back the Colorado River and Lake Mead, with the Dam provides power and hydro-electricity to both states as well as California. Originally called the Boulder Dam, it was constructed during the Great Depression to prevent flooding in the area. With only 48 km from Las Vegas, it’s an easy day trip adventure!
Once in the middle you come to the two turrets showing both timezones of Arizona and Nevada, however they could be the same when you visit as Arizona does not observe the daylight saving time.
You can see how low the level of the Lake Mead water is too, a big difference from 1998 when it was last officially full.
We decided to walk across to the Nevada state side and visit the little store, but didn’t take a tour to view the tunnels and exclusive sections of the Dam as we already had plans for the afternoon and didn’t feel a strong need to see those parts.
Here you can find the main entrance to the tour and the memorials to to the 96 construction workers who lost their lives during the construction of dam. You can see two bronze Winged Figures of the Republic with the US flag in the middle.
Hoover Dam has been recognized as:
National Register of Historic Places in 1981.
National Civil Engineering Landmark in 1984.
National Historic Landmark in 1985.
Walking back over the dam to the car, we walked the other side which was a little more in the shade to see the water outflow side of the dam. Also we didn’t want to miss anything since we would only be visiting once…. or so I thought!
View From Above
A surprise helicopter trip booked by my partner the next day meant we actually flew over Hoover Dam to the Grand Canyon, so we had some impressive sky views too! You can see our full Grand Canyon Helicopter Tour post here!
We were glad to have visited the Hoover Dam during our 2 week US Road Trip as it gave us a break from the very lively Las Vegas, we could tick it off our list that we have visited and we did find it interesting how fast it was built and low the water levels had reached.
Read more of our USA posts!Â
Helicopter Tour Above Grand Canyon
Cycling The Golden Gate Bridge, CA
Exploring Bodie: An Abandoned Mining Town
San Francisco 2 Day Itinerary With & Without A Car
Tips:
- Take water with you
- Respect the rules and don’t litter
- Be prepared for the heat!
- It’s a popular place, so just take your time
- Try to find a FREE parking spot on the south of the Dam, will save you $10 from the parking available there!
Pin for later:
Have you visited the Hoover Dam in Las Vegas before? Did you take the tour or just visited like us?
12 Comments
Sarah - Borders & Bucket Lists
12th May 2018 at 7:12 amWonderful post! I actually did this drive as a little kid, and I don’t remember much, but your pictures sparked some great memories :).
Zoe | Together In Transit
15th May 2018 at 9:30 amThank you for commenting Sarah! I think it’s a place definitely to visit when you are in the area and glad to hear you have visited as a child as must of looked a lot bigger and impressive as a child! 😀
madhu-on-the-go
12th May 2018 at 7:16 amHoover dam looks incredible and huge. I am sure you would have had great time .
Zoe | Together In Transit
15th May 2018 at 9:29 amIf it was a bit cooler we could of enjoyed it more, but that didn’t stop us taking the time to take it all in 🙂
Toni
12th May 2018 at 12:36 pmI LOVE Hoover Dam. I finally made it here last year and did all of this…magnificent! Great post that brought back a lot of memories.
Zoe | Together In Transit
15th May 2018 at 9:29 amGlad to have brought back some memories for you! 🙂 Apart from the heat we really did enjoy visiting here! Thanks for commenting Toni!
Cherene Saradar
12th May 2018 at 4:49 pmI still haven’t been here! It is so interesting. I need to go one of these days!
Zoe | Together In Transit
15th May 2018 at 9:28 amThank you for commenting Cherene, definitely a cool place to visit if you are ever in the area 🙂
Eva
14th May 2018 at 9:55 amOMG! The pictures are just mind blowing, i can see the kind of amazing time you guys had, such beautiful views! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Zoe | Together In Transit
15th May 2018 at 9:28 amThank you for commenting Eva. We had a blast!
Abhi
19th June 2018 at 12:28 pmAfter reading your blog. I will keep eye on your blog. Great Information. Thank you and keep it up..
Togetherintransit
19th June 2018 at 1:25 pmThank you Abhi, I write and share new posts every week 🙂