The Hoover Dam - Boulder City, Nevada

Hoover Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the U.S. states of Nevada and Arizona. It was constructed between 1931 and 1936 during the Great Depression and was dedicated on September 30, 1935, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

I visited the dam three times, in 2010 with my wife, and twice in 2019 with friends on a hiking trip. The damn is a modern marvel as reported by the History Channel and should be on everyone's bucket list. The only real cost to see the dam and walk across it, thus allowing you to stand in two states and two time-zones (Nevada/Arizona), is a parking fee at the dam parking deck. But do yourself a favor and pay the extra money to complete the interior tour of the dam where they take you inside the tunnels, over one of the diversion tunnels, and to the generator facility where you can see the turbines which generate power for many states. The dam also gives admission discounts to active duty and retired military.

An interesting fact about the dam is still today, the concrete is cooling and hardening because of the massive heat generated when they poured the concrete back in the 1930s. This was why they had to create one of the largest refrigeration systems back in the 1930s to help cool the concrete.

Our experience: well worth the visit and an overwhelming example of what humans can accomplish.

Dam contact information:

Phone: (702) 494-2517

https://www.usbr.gov/lc/hooverdam/

Gallery of photos