The Hoover Dam and Lake Mead (Hoover Dam)

Member Name: andycharger

Product:	Hoover Dam
Date:	05/07/01 (159 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A great tourist attraction

Disadvantages: Only appeals t certain tastes.

If you go to Las Vegas and want something more than casino's, you could always take one of the tours that are on offer.
One that takes you to the edge of Nevada, the state in which Vegas is situated, is the Hoover Dam.

This tour takes roughly half a day and is based about 1 hours Coach ride from the City. Its quite a good tour because you get to see a bit more of vegas that the hotels and casinos.

As you leave to the south of Vegas, through the mountains, you get to the city of Boulder.
Boulder city is a very sleepy town that was created in the late 20's and early 30's so that the dam builders and families had somewhere to live.
it was literally created from nothing.

It is about 4 miles from the actual Dam.

As you sweep around the last bend on the canyon before arriving at the dam, nothing prepares you for the site.

Its huge!

The Hoover dam has become a big tourist attraction in Nevada. Vegas adds the tourists who want a bit more.
It took 4 years to build in the 30's during the great depression and was finished 2 years ahead of schedule.

When you arrive on the Bus, you depart in the garage and decend into the visitor centre.
here you can look at the history of the dam and pictures or choose to watch the movie about the dam.

You can take one of the 2 tours on offer.

One tour lasts about 30 mins and takes you to the bottom of the dam in an express elevator. You get to walk around the dam generators and see the foot of the dam first hand. You also go through part of the dam to see the inlet tunnels.

The 2nd tour is called the HARD HAT tour and takes about 90 minutes. Its more in depth and requires the visitors to wear a hard hat as they go into the actual workings of the dam. The hats are allowed to be kept as a souvenir. This is more for the engineer types amongst you!

The dam itself is used to control the fluctuating Colorado River b
ecasue it used to devastate farmland in the valley. The power generated by the dam is transported across Nevada and California.
The Dam actually bridges Nevada and Arizona together. The dam also creates Lake Mead.

Lake Mead is the largest man made lake in the world. It has more coastline that Lake michigan and most of it is in Arizona.
Saying this, all of the leisure pursuits associated with the lake (fishing,Boating,Wate Skiing) take place from Nevada coastline. Its crystal clear and makes a good spot for swimming or sunbathing on the beaches it has.

Lake Mead and Hoover dam can be combined to one tour and make a good day out.

Summary: