Hoover Dam🌊Bridge USA

 

The Hoover dam is pretty incredible feat of engineering to see and a great half day adventure from las vegas. Here's all the information if you want to check it out.

  The hoover dam is about a 45 minute drive from las vegas and you can make a full day out of it with a visit to lake mead as well once you make it to the hoover dam area there are many different jumping off points for your visit some are free and some costs and I cover all of them in this article.I'd recommend that you drive across the dam first to get a feel for how massive it is and to see it from the road. Before exploring after you drive across it there are a few different pull outs where you can get some great views of the dam from the north side and of lake mead unfortunately the water level was really low in 2021.

  After exploring a few of the viewpoints you can head back across the dam and towards the large parking area near the visitor center it costs to park here so you have to pay your fee before proceeding at the base of the parking structure there's a store you can explore and a cafe for food there's not really any other food around here so this is a good option if you're hungry. 

You began by heading down to the lower level and you buy a ticket to explore the visitor center area of the dam since they were not giving tours when you will go the ticket included a movie that told you about the dam's history and then you could proceed up to the museum area with many exhibits on the dam and its construction. It was interactive and had some really interesting exhibits but overall it was pretty small once you're done with the museum portion you can take the elevator up to the top deck which was open air and had one of the best views of the dam from here you could truly understand the size of the undertaking and you walk around here for a little while just soaking it all in this is definitely one of the best parts in the paid section of the dam after finishing my time at the overlook. 

 You proceeded down the walkway which takes you across the top of the dam if you're afraid of heights you probably don't want to get too close to the edge here as it is a really big drop you could walk this on both sides and there are many areas where you could stand and enjoy the view while looking down this area is the state line for both arizona and nevada so there were clocks on each side noting the state this walkway is definitely a place you're going to want to spend some time while you're exploring the dam as it's free to walk across and it's pretty crazy to see the views from here when you get back to the side you started on be sure to go to the spillway house if you paid to go to the visitor center as there's another small exhibit you can see this one was built in the 1930s and it's like a large diorama that has many features of the river and why the dam was necessary it was fascinating to see something like this over the digital tech that you're used to seeing while visiting a museum. It's a cool piece of history to preserve.

 

When you're done exploring this portion there's one major area you need to see before completing your time at hoover dam and that's the michael callahan pat tillman memorial bridge heading out towards the freeway you'll see a parking area on the left there's a trailhead for this short hike. The hike leaves from the parking area and heads up a set of cement wheelchair accessible switchbacks or you can opt for the stairs that take you directly up along the way there are signs to tell you about the construction of the bridge and its history.

  When you get to the top you'll walk towards the road and see the massive arch bridge in front of you there's a pedestrian walkway for this bridge and it allows you to walk along the north side of the bridge and have amazing views of the dam hundreds of feet below you this is not a place for those that are afraid of heights but i found it to be pretty amazing you can walk across the entire bridge if you'd like or just walk as far as you want and then head back.

   A direct view of the hoover dam again it's crazy to be able to get views like this without a helicopter or a drone after taking it all in you can head back the way you came to your car ending your time at the hoover dam.

I recommend you check it out if you get a chance let me know if I left something off in the comments and I hope to go back one day for a tour of the dam as well thanks for read this article.📃