Driving over from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon was a beautiful drive. I passed through mountains, snow, desert and more. The suddenness of change in the landscape out here is just amazing. I don’t think you get that just flying over.
As this journey has progressed I keep finding myself thinking. That’s the prettiest drive I’ve ever taken. Seems the further I go the better the drives get. This has to stop at some point…right? The drive was going great. I was really enjoying it and then I come to the sign that says. Lake Mead Recreation Area.
The Recreation Area is massive. You enter it miles before you get to Hoover Dam. The landscape changes to drastically about this point and the vista through the windshield becomes one of mountains, valleys and gorges. It’s like a mix of the Grand Canyon and the desert. It was hard to concentrate on driving it was so tantalizing to the mind. There are several scenic pull offs that I would love to have taken advantage of but I had a time constraint but I did slow down and take some peaks.
The campground I stayed at was actually inside the National Park at Lake Mead. When you turn off the main road to defend toward the lake the first view of Lake Mead is breath taking. Breath taking enough that there is a scenic pull off just up the road. The thing out here that has been eye opening is the scale. Everything is huge…huge I tell you!
You can see forever and everything is so big that it looks like it’s close to you. It may be 20 miles away. It looks big but close. Then you get up close and it’s actually a long drive and it’s massive. Depth perception is definitely affected and it takes you mind several days to adjust.
I stayed a Lake Mead RV Village. This is a private campground within the National Park. It’s adjacent to the National Park Campground, Boulder Beach Campground. The national park campground has more trees and is more appealing but doesn’t have power on the sites. I think they did have water. I booked a lake front site at Lake Mead RV Village and it’s the most scenic site I’ve had since Flagler Beach. I had an unobstructed view of Lake Mead which was about a mile and half away, but it’s so big that it appeared much closer.
The staff at The Village was super nice. They have a well appointed camp store with everything from souvenirs to light groceries. There a good camper supply section also. I did not go into the bathrooms. I always seem to forget this. I did use the laundry and they had clean well functioning machines that you pay with an app. The app tells you when the cycle completes. Pretty sweet.
The Village is in a great location. You are already in the National Park. There’s hiking trails everywhere, one of the best paved bike/walking trails I’ve seen. There’s a marina with a restaurant and you are 5 minutes from downtown Boulder City which has some of the best food I’ve had on the trip. More on that later.
You could stay here and never leave the park but the Hoover Dam and there are trails all the way to the dam, is just 15 mins away. Las Vegas is just 35-40 minutes away. I highly recommend the Village or the NP Campground as a great location to stay.
I setup quickly and headed to Vegas for the night. I stayed overnight and I had a show booked that night and one for the next before returning to the campground. I had never been to Vegas and I enjoyed it. I probably could have spent one more day there but that would have been plenty. I think an occasional visit here to see shows and see a handful of things would be nice. I definitely recommend you eat at Carmines at Caesars Palace.
I also visited Brewdog. The venue is really cool. The beer is average. There was a brewery in Henderson, a Las Vegas suburb that I did not make it to. Boulder City had two breweries. Boulder Dam Brewing and Beer Zombies Brewing Company. I think I will do a shorter post on the breweries for those who are interested in more details. The highlights are that Boulder Dam Brewing’s beer was average, but they have really good food. Get the mac and cheese bites. Beer Zombies beer was better but I only got to try one of their beers and didn’t try the food truck. Why, you might ask. Well they do not do flights, only pints and they also have half of their taps as guest taps. Guess what they had on tap? Russian River. A brewery that has been on my wish list for years. I had more beer than planned and I just couldn’t do more LOL. Both breweries had really nice outdoor areas.
Food was a major part of enjoying this stop. My weight loss was paused here. I already mentioned Carmines in Vegas. Boulder City is a foodie find. Boulder Dam Brewing was really good bar fair. 1933 in the Boulder Inn was delicious and has the best Coffee Cake I’ve ever put in my mouth. Do not miss the Cornish Pasty Company for a unique and delicious dining experience. Get the homemade bread. The Dillinger is good for upscale bar food. Be sure you try the burger with peanut butter on it. All of these were pretty much in a block or two of each other.
One of my favorite things on this stop was the hike. White Owl Canyon was a good test of my healing ankle. This hike through desert, small canyons and drainage tunnels was just what I needed. Almost did the train tunnel trail and will if I ever go back.
In summary this was a great stop. I loved the Grand Canyon but there was so much more here to do and the scenery was still awesome. I would have liked to stay a month and explored more of the nature options but I really packed a lot into this stop. it was a great mix of nature, national park, niche small town and Vegas.
Here’s the teaser. Coming up is the most scenic drive of the trip.
- Campgrounds, Curveballs, and Cold Beers
This summer was supposed to be spent in the great state of Wyoming, checking off some more national parks. The President and Mr. Musk had different plans. Due to the federal cuts, the national park scene has a lot of uncertainty. - Chateau Le Coeur
Just a short ways off of I-10 you will find a winery named Chateau Le Coeur. The owners moved to northern Florida from the Great Northwest. They have wineries and vineyards in Washington and Oregon. They have an interesting story they tell about starting the winery. - Sunday Morning Musings Ep. #6
“We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.” – T. S. Eliot - WildEdge Brewing Collective
The food was delicious, at least the chicken salad sandwich, was very, very good. The locals were friendly and as I often do I spent a few beers in bar side communion with them. I am a little bummed that I did not pick up any packaged beer or swag from here.