Hoover Dam, USA – Top Tips for Visiting
If you are looking for an escape from the bright lights of Las Vegas, or a pitstop on the way to the Grand Canyon, then you should definitely pay a visit to the Hoover Dam.
Straddling the border of Nevada and Arizona, and once the tallest dam in the world, Hoover Dam is an icon of American engineering and has been holding back the mighty Colorado River since the 1930s.
More than one million people visit the Hoover Dam every year to see some American history first hand and to take in the awesome views – keep reading to find out all you need to know!
How to get there
At only 35 miles from the centre of Las Vegas, the Hoover Dam makes a perfect day trip once you’ve gambled to your heart’s content.
When we visited, we hired a car from the McCarran Rental Centre (which is just to the south of Harry Reid Airport in Vegas) and made the 40-minute drive down to the dam. This was our first stop as part of a longer road trip we were taking and were glad at how simple it was to drive to.
From Vegas, simply follow Highway 215 east until you can join Highway 11. You will then stay on this road until Junction 2 where you will see signs pointing you down a smaller road towards the dam.
The only slight annoyance about driving here is that if you are using this as a road trip stop, you will have to drive back up the same road to re-join the main highway and continue your journey across the bridge.
If you feel that there’s just too much hassle and cost in hiring a car, then there are plenty of guided day trips from Vegas that you could use instead. These trips often include hotel pickup and a guided tour once you arrive. Although we didn’t use Viator for our visit, we have used them in the past and always been pleased with the experience.
Arrival Tips
When you drive down the road towards Hoover Dam you’ll come across a large parking garage on your left side that will charge you $10 to park. Instead of spending money here, we recommend that you continue driving so that you cross the bridge onto the Arizona side (which is a cool experience in itself) and follow the road up the hill slightly. Here you will find lots of free parking spots and it’s about the same distance away from the dam as the paid spots.
We visited around at 10:30am during the Spring Break, and although it was quite busy, there were still plenty of spaces left. There is also a constant stream of traffic coming and going so if there is no space when you arrive, someone will likely be leaving shortly.
Things to do
It’s fully possible to visit the Hoover Dam and not spend a single dollar (that’s what we did). However, if you want an enhanced experience there’s a few things you can splash your cash on.
For $30, you can go on the one-hour Guided Dam Tour which takes you through the inspection tunnels located inside the dam and for $10 you can tour the visitor centre located up next to the paid parking. Tickets for the dam tour can’t be bought online and are available at the site on a first come basis only, however you can get the visitor centre tickets online (read more about it here).
We did not go on a guided tour or to the visitor centre. However, from reading other reviews, it seems that both of those items are for people really interested in the history and inner workings of the dam so consider if you will actually find it interesting before deciding to pay.
How Much Time to Spend
Due to our tight schedule we couldn’t allocate much time to the Hoover Dam however we were able to spend around 30-45 minutes here walking across the dam, taking plenty of photos, checking out all the different angles and reading the information boards. We left thinking that we had given it the right amount of time and that we had seen everything we had wanted.
Everywhere you look on the dam you will see something interesting, but our favourite view is from the middle of the dam straight across to the reasonably new Mike O’Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge which stretches gracefully across the Colorado River.
Other Useful Info
- The Hoover Dam straddles the border of Nevada and Arizona, two of the hottest states in the USA. Even if you are only visiting for a short time make sure you have plenty of water and sun cream as you could burn quickly!
- There’s no need to pay for the parking, just drive over to the Arizona side and use the free parking lots there. The first parking lot you come to on the Arizona side may charge, if it does just drive past as there are more spaces around the corner.
- Only go on the tours if you are really interested in the subject, simply walking across the dam and reading the info boards is enough for most visitors.
- If you are in the need for some refreshments, there is a café (as well as a gift shop and toilets) next to the visitor centre. However, the food price are quite high so we suggest bringing some snacks instead.
