A boat at Lake Mead National Recreation Area
Lake Mead National Recreation Area
IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape)
Map showing the location of Lake Mead National Recreation Area
Map showing the location of Lake Mead National Recreation Area
Map showing the location of Lake Mead National Recreation Area
Map showing the location of Lake Mead National Recreation Area
Map showing the location of Lake Mead National Recreation Area
Map showing the location of Lake Mead National Recreation Area
LocationClark County, Nevada and Mohave County, Arizona, United States
Nearest cityBoulder City and Las Vegas, Nevada
Coordinates36°00′35″N 114°47′48″W / 36.00972°N 114.79667°W / 36.00972; -114.79667
Area1,495,806 acres (6,053.31 km2)[1]
EstablishedOctober 13, 1936 (1936-10-13)[2]
Visitors5,578,226 (in 2022)[3]
Governing bodyDepartment of the Interior (DOI)
National Park Service (NPS)
WebsiteLake Mead National Recreation Area
Lake Mead from the Hoover Dam

Lake Mead National Recreation Area is a U.S. national recreation area in southeastern Nevada and northwestern Arizona. Operated by the National Park Service, Lake Mead NRA follows the Colorado River corridor from the westernmost boundary of Grand Canyon National Park to just north of the cities of Laughlin, Nevada and Bullhead City, Arizona. It includes all of the eponymous Lake Mead as well as the smaller Lake Mohave – reservoirs on the river created by Hoover Dam and Davis Dam, respectively – and the surrounding desert terrain and wilderness.[4]

Formation of Lake Mead began in 1935, less than a year before Hoover Dam was completed.[4] The area surrounding Lake Mead was protected as a bird refuge in 1933[5] and later established as the Boulder Dam Recreation Area in 1936[6] and the name was changed to Lake Mead National Recreation Area in 1947.[7] In 1964, the area was expanded to include Lake Mohave and its surrounding area and became the first National Recreation Area to be designated as such by the U.S. Congress.[8]

Amenities

Lake Mead NRA features water recreation, including boating, swimming, and fishing, on both lakes as well as the stretches of river between the lakes. It also features hiking trails and views of the surrounding desert landscape.[9] Three of the four desert ecosystems found in the United States — the Mojave Desert, the Great Basin Desert, and the Sonoran Desert — meet in Lake Mead NRA. Tours of Hoover Dam – administered by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation – are also a major attraction within the recreation area.[8][10]

About 200,000 acres (81,000 ha) of the recreation area are managed separately under the Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument, established in 2000.[11] Water covers about 186,000 acres (75,000 ha) of the recreation area.[12]

The ghost town of St. Thomas, Nevada is contained entirely within Lake Mead NRA. The town, once entirely submerged beneath Lake Mead, features a two-mile-long loop trail with interpretative signage. It is accessed near the Northshore Entrance Station, just south of Overton.

Wilderness areas

There are currently nine officially designated wilderness areas under the National Wilderness Preservation System lying within Lake Mead National Recreation Area. All are in the Nevada portion. Parts of some of these wildernesses (as indicated) lie outside Lake Mead NRA and are managed by the Bureau of Land Management:[13]

Park resources

  • 900 plant species
  • 500 animal species
  • 24 rare and threatened species
  • 9 designated wilderness areas
  • 122,166 museum objects and archives
  • 1,347 recorded archeological sites
  • 23 historic structures
  • 8 listed National Register Properties
  • 2 Traditional Cultural Properties[8]

Fish species

Lakes Mead and Mohave offer some of the country’s best sport fishing. The following species are found in both lakes:[8]

Visitation

Rock formations near Echo Bay
Satellite image of Lake Mead

For 2012, with 6.3 million recreational visits, Lake Mead National Recreation Area was the 5th most visited national park.[8]

Calendar Year Annual Visits Total Cumulative Visits
1936
1937 552,128 552,128
1938 533,914 1,086,042 -18,214 -3.30%
1939 649,624 1,735,666 +115,710 +21.67%
1940 668,027 2,403,693 +18,403 +2.83%
1941 844,733 3,248,426 +176,706 +26.45%
1942 338,778 3,587,204 -505,955 -59.90%
1943 214,190 3,801,394 -124,588 -36.78%
1944 263,533 4,064,927 +49,343 +23.04%
1945 587,436 4,652,363 +323,903 +122.91%
1946 1,165,369 5,817,732 +577,933 +98.38%
1947 1,426,831 7,244,563 +261,462 +22.44%
1948 1,654,004 8,898,567 +227,173 +15.92%
1949 1,423,552 10,322,119 -230,452 -13.93%
1950 1,798,280 12,120,399 +374,728 +26.32%
1951 2,053,619 14,174,018 +255,339 +14.20%
1952 1,946,706 16,120,724 -106,913 -5.21%
1953 2,220,940 18,341,664 +274,234 +14.09%
1954 2,112,724 20,454,388 -108,216 -4.87%
1955 2,675,371 23,129,759 +562,647 +26.60%
1956 2,672,774 25,802,533 -2,597 -0.10%
1957 2,955,257 28,757,790 +282,483 +10.57%
1958 3,190,580 31,948,370 +235,323 +7.96%
1959 3,390,574 35,338,944 +199,994 +6.27%
1960 2,254,185 37,593,129 -1,136,389 -33.50%
1961 2,219,960 39,813,089 -34,225 -1.50%
1962 2,688,745 42,501,834 +468,785 +21.10%
1963 3,349,565 45,851,399 +660,820 +24.60%
1964 3,462,580 49,313,979 +113,015 +3.40%
1965 3,594,065 52,908,044 +131,485 +3.80%
1966 3,720,485 56,628,529 +126,420 +3.50%
1967 4,102,335 60,730,864 +381.85 +10.30%
1968 4,751,795 65,482,659 +649,460 +15.80%
1969 5,614,940 71,097,599 +863,145 +18.20%
1970 4,897,135 75,994,734 -717,805 -12.80%
1971 4,570,229 80,564,963 -326,906 -6.70%
1972 4,888,640 85,453,599 +318,407 +6.90%
1973 5,534,315 90,987,914 +645,679 +13.20%
1974 5,939,533 96,927,447 +405,218 +7.32%
1975 6,219,220 103,146,667 +279,687 +4.70%
1976 6,948,611 110,095,278 +729,391 +11.72%
1977 6,529,848 116,625,126 -418,763 -6.00%
1978 6,879,870 123,504,996 +350.022 +5.30%
1979 6,378,341 129,883,337 -501,529 -7.30%
1980 5,145,699 135,029,036 -1,232,642 -19.30%
1981 5,406,184 140,435,220 +260,485 +0.05%
1982 5,565,467 146,000,687 +159,283 +3.00%
1983 6,128,254 152,128,941 +562,787 +10.10%
1984 6,504,206 158,633,147 +375,952 +6.10%
1985 7,204,295 165,837,442 +700,089 +10.70%
1986 8,034,542 173,871,984 +830,247 +11.50%
1987 8,392,419 182,264,403 +357,877 +4.50%
1988 8,629,895 190,894,298 +237,476 +2.83%
1989 8,803,414 199,697,712 +173,519 +2.00%
1990 8,893,495 208,591,207 +90.081 +1.02%
1991 8,751,312 217,342,519 -142,183 -1.59%
1992 9,343,549 226,686,068 +592,237 +6.80%
1993 9,265,520 235,951,588 -78,029 -0.84%
1994 9,913,705 245,865,293 +648,185 +7.00%
1995 10,195,546 256,060,839 +281,841 +2.85%
1996 9,689,997 265,750,836 -505,549 -4.96%
1997 8,837,742 274,588,578 -852,255 -8.80%
1998 9,106,793 283,695,371 +269,051 +3.00%
1999 9,351,237 293,046,608 +244,444 +2.68%
2000 9,072,545 302,119,153 -278,692 -3.00%
2001 8,772,589 310,891,742 -299,956 -3.31%
2002 7,824,128 318,715,870 -948,461 -10.81%
2003 8,202,677 326,918,545 +378,547 +4.84%
2004 8,103,609 335,022,154 -99,066 -1.21%
2005 7,971,437 342,993,591 -132,172 -1.63%
2006 8,059,850 351,053,441 +88,413 +1.11%
2007 7,898,592 358,952,033 -161,258 -2.00%
2008 7,877,581 366,829,614 -21,011 -0.27%
2009 7,946,830 374,776,444 +69,249 +0.88%
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019

References

  1. ↑ "Listing of acreage – December 31, 2011" (XLSX). Land Resource Division, National Park Service. Retrieved December 14, 2012. (National Park Service Acreage Reports)
  2. ↑ "Listing of National Park System Areas by State". National Park Service.
  3. ↑ "Annual Park Ranking Report for Recreation Visits in: 2022". nps.gov. National Park Service. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  4. 1 2 Crossley, John. "Lake Mead National Recreation Area". The American Southwest. Retrieved 2013-11-15.
  5. ↑ Rothman, Hal K. (June 2002). "Balancing the Mandates: An Administrative History of Lake Mead National Recreation Area" (PDF). National Park Service.
  6. ↑ Dodd, Douglas W. (2006-12-01). "Boulder Dam Recreation Area: The Bureau of Reclamation, the National Park Service, and the Origins of the National Recreation Area Concept at Lake Mead, 1929–1936". Southern California Quarterly. 88 (4): 431–473. doi:10.2307/41172340. ISSN 0038-3929. JSTOR 41172340.
  7. ↑ "Lake Mead National Recreation Area: Historic Timeline". National Park Service. Retrieved 2013-11-15.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 "Press Kit: About Lake Mead National Recreation Area" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved 2013-11-15.
  9. ↑ Glionna, John M. (August 27, 2015). "Enduring heat and history, hikers learn their place – far behind the ghosts of Hoover Dam". Los Angeles Times.
  10. ↑ "Hoover Tour Information". Bureau of Reclamation. Archived from the original on 2013-11-19. Retrieved 2013-11-15.
  11. ↑ "National Monument detail table as of April 2012" (PDF). Bureau of Land Management. Retrieved 2013-11-15.
  12. ↑ Barnes, John. "Inventory and Monitoring of Aquatic Bird Species on Lakes Mead and Mohave 2004–2006". Digital Scholarship@UNLV. Retrieved 2013-11-15.
  13. ↑ "Wilderness Areas in the National Park System". Wilderness.net. Retrieved 2013-11-15.
  14. ↑ "Relict Leopard Frog". Lake Mead National Recreation Area (U.S. National Park Service). Retrieved 2020-04-26.
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