Boulder Beach Campground at Lake Mead National Recreation Area May 10

We left Alamo Lake State Park on Friday, May 10th around 8:30 in the morning for a 5-hour drive to Boulder Beach Campground at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area in Boulder City, Nevada which is 26 miles outside of Las Vegas. We’re only here four nights and we have a LOT to see and do!

There are no utility hookups at Boulder Beach Campground so we’re dry camping. We filled our fresh water tank on Thursday night before leaving Alamo Lake State Park and all our onboard and personal batteries are charged. We’re in Loop D at site 85 which was a paved site and very level. The sites are VERY close but as a trade-off we have a nice view out our back window of beautiful Lake Mead and the gorgeous surrounding mountains.

Lake Mead National Recreation Area

Lake Mead National Recreation Area began its life as the Boulder Dam Recreation Area in 1936 and the name was changed to its current one in 1947. In 1964 Lake Mohave as well as its surrounding land was added to the area and Congress designated the combined land and water resources as the very first (and still the largest) National Recreation Area. Parts of Southeastern Nevada and Northwestern Arizona are included and it is operated by the National Park Service.

The mountains, canyons, valleys and two vast lakes of Lake Mead National Recreation Area total 1.5 million acres that feature boating, swimming, fishing and hiking activities. Three of the four desert ecosystems in the United States (Mojave, Great Basin and Sonoran) meet in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area. Lake Mead itself, at full capacity, has a surface area of 157,418 acres and holds 9.3 trillion gallons of water, which provides water to 25 million people across the Southwestern U.S. The average depth is 182 feet with a maximum depth of 532 feet.

After setting up Nomad at our site we drove into nearby Henderson to get gas and supplies at Costco (LOVE that fuel discount!), then grabbed dinner at Jersey Mike’s before getting some groceries and heading back to the campsite.

Friday night the campground is full of party people, and I think they all camped across from and next to us.

Exploring Boulder Beach Campground

Saturday morning we took Bella for a walk toward the lake (but not TO the lake as no dogs are allowed), however the ground was very rocky and she didn’t like it so we walked back. Then Cindy and I drove down to the lake. I guess they don’t have rangers or attendants to enforce the rules here. It’s posted that no cars are allowed on the beach, but the place was full of cars. It’s also posted that no dogs are allowed on the beach, but there were several loose dogs running around and doing their business wherever they wanted.

Then we drove into Boulder City to walk the Nature Discovery Trail and Rock Garden. This trail’s claim to fame is giant replicas of desert dwelling critters such as the jackrabbit, rattlesnake, Gila monster and others. We had lunch then Cindy found a crocheting store and bought everything they had in stock (just kidding) before we stopped for ice cream and then headed back to the campsite.

No hookups means no A/C and the afternoon was a toasty 84 degrees, but the breeze off of Lake Mead is quite cooling.

Please join us in Part Two for our tour of Hoover Dam, and thanks for following The Wandering Wetheringtons.