Index for Category - Boulder City Places of Interest

This page last updated on 04/15/2018

Click on a Title to View Boulder City Places of Interest Boulder Dam Hotel - Boulder City Zip Lines at Bootleg Canyon Hemenway Park The Great Christmas Light Fight See also "Indices/Posts by Hiking Trips", Boulder City Hikes - 5 posts

Flightline Zip Lines at Bootleg Canyon

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This page last updated on 01/09/2018

(Fig. 01)

(Fig. 02) Description: There are four separate zip-runs (Fig. 02) that cover over 8,000 feet (1.5 miles) as you travel at speeds up to 50+ mph down the Red Mountains in Boulder City, NV. The whole experience lasts around 3 hours. After signup and training at their office in Boulder City, everyone get into a bus for the climb that winds its way up the mountain (Fig. 01). After reaching the parking and staging area, everyone begins by embarking on a 15-minute, moderate hike to the launching platform of the first zipline (Fig. 03). At 3,800 feet above sea level, there are spectacular views of Boulder City (Fig. 04) stretching from Las Vegas (background of Fig. 05) to Lake Mead (Fig. 06) and the Eldorado Valley beyond (Fig. 07).

(Fig. 03)

(Fig. 04)

(Fig. 05) (Fig. 06)

(Fig. 07)

09/18/2015 Trip Notes: From the upper launching platform (elevation 3,632) (Fig. 08) down to the first landing platform (Fig. 09) (elevation 3,254) is a 1,852 foot run. The second launch (Fig. 10), located behind the first landing in (Fig. 09) is a 1,864 run down to the second landing at 3,102 feet (Fig. 11). From here it is a 30 foot climb up a arduous set of stairs (Fig. 12) to the third zipline platform. At 3,129 feet, this is the longest ride at more than 2,546 long. In (Fig. 13) my brother is making his landing at the end of this line. At the end of each run, out guides had to reset all the brakes (Fig. 14) and gathered the gear (Fig. 15) for the walk to the next platform. At each level we were all busy taking pictures (Fig. 15) and readying our cameras and harnesses (Fig. 16).

(Fig. 08) (Fig. 09)

(Fig. 10) (Fig. 11)

(Fig. 12) (Fig. 13)

(Fig. 14) (Fig. 15)

(Fig. 16)

The video clip below shows one of my brother rides. Because I have not edited this video, he doesn't show in the video until about 3/4 of the way through. Return to [Bootleg Canyon Summary Page]

Hoover Dam

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This page last updated on 03/05/2019

(Fig. 01)

Directions: The dam is located 36 miles southeast of Las Vegas. From the Stratosphere Casino head northeast on Las Vegas Blvd about 3 miles and bear right to merge onto US-515/93/95 south towards Boulder City. Follow US-93/95 for 20 miles and turn left to stay on US-93 South. Go 5 miles and take the NV-172 exit, EXIT 2, toward HOOVER DAM and travel 3 miles to the dam. The parking garage is open from 8:00 a.m. to 6:15 p.m. Parking fee: is $7.00. This beautiful four story garage is carved into the side of the cliff. Designed to meld into the surrounding cliff, the collage in (Fig. 02) below shows some of its 1940’s art-deco features.

(Fig. 02)

General Description: Hoover Dam, once known as Boulder Dam, is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between Nevada and Arizona. It was constructed between 1931 and 1936 during the Great Depression and was dedicated on September 30, 1935, by President Franklin Roosevelt. Its construction cost over one hundred lives. At the time, it was the largest concrete structure ever built and some of the techniques were unproven. Hoover Dam impounds Lake Mead, and is located near Boulder City, Nevada, a municipality originally constructed for workers on the construction project, about 25 miles southeast of Las Vegas, Nevada. The dam's generators provide power for public and private utilities in Nevada, Arizona, and California. A major tourist attraction; it is visited by nearly a million people each year. The heavily traveled U.S. 93 ran along the dam's crest until October 2010, when the Hoover Dam Bypass opened in 2010. See … Mike O'Callaghan - Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge.

Special Attraction or Points of Interest: There are two guided Hoover Dam Tours that range from 30 minutes to an hour and cost between $11-$30 dollars. The guided Powerplant Tour is the most popular and takes about 30 minutes, while the Dam Tour is about one hour. The Mike O'Callaghan - Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge walk is free and is reachable from a separate parking lot located before you reach the dam. You can walk up to the new by-pass bridge, walk through an outside display area and onto a walkway the transverses the entire length of the eastern side of the bridge. Mike O'Callaghan - Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge. Taking in the Dam and Powerplant Tour, the Visitor Center Presentations and Exhibits, and walking the Street Level Displays and Exhibits, one should plan a minimum of four to five hours.

09/18/2015 Trip Notes: Today I visited the Dam with my brother Tom. Even though this was about my seventh visit to the Dam, I had never put together detailed page on the Hoover Dam. In the creation of this page, I used pictures from all of my previous visits. Today we took both the Dam Tour and the Power Plant Tour. After leaving the garage, we crossed the street and took the stairs down to the Visitor Center, down below street level to the security checkpoint/ticketing area. While waiting for our tour we took the elevators in the center of the building up to the Visitor Center Exhibit Gallery. This gallery houses numerous audio, visual and interactive exhibits, including a full-scale model of the huge buckets used to move concrete for Hoover Dam construction, a walk-though model of a generator, and a detailed diorama of the dam and an interactive exhibit for managing power generation and conserving energy (Fig. 03). We then went out on the Observation Deck. This area provided panoramic views of Lake Mead, Hoover Dam, the Colorado River, the Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge and other features (Figs. 04-06). Continued below.

(Fig. 03)

(Fig. 04) (Fig. 05)

(Fig. 06)

Trip Notes (Con’t): When it was time for our tour, we reentered the Visitor Center and down to the theater, where we viewed a 10-minute film describing the contributions of Hoover Dam to the developing West, and the massive construction effort behind its engineering marvel. After exiting the Theater, we took an 70-second elevator ride 530 feet down through the rock wall of Black Canyon to the Hoover Dam Powerplant. We exited the elevator into a tunnel (Fig. 07) that was drilled in the 1930's for construction, and took a short walk to the Penstock Viewing Platform (Fig. 08). This location is atop one (of four) of the huge 30-foot-diameter pipes that can transport nearly 90,000 gallons of water each second from Lake Mead to the dam's hydroelectric generators. An animated display, with the help of our tour (Fig. 09), helped describe the complexities of the construction of the dam, and how it presently operates. From here, a quick elevator ride up to the Nevada powerplant balcony takes you to a panoramic view of the 650-foot-long Nevada wing of the powerplant and eight of the dam's 17 huge generators (Fig. 10). Continued below.

(Fig. 07) (Fig. 08)

(Fig. 09)

(Fig. 10)

Trip Notes (Con’t):  From here we navigated through tunnels to explore rarely seen areas of the dam itself. We viewed some of the inspection markings written on the walls from decades past. Then down a long tunnel (Fig. 11) to peek out of one of the two air vents located on the downstream face of the dam (Fig. 12).  We the explored further to see a fascinating set of stairs reaching into the dark depths of the dam's mass of concrete (Fig. 13), and other tunnels that wind their way throughout the structure, Including an emergency set of 550 stairs to the top of the dam (Fig. 14). At the end of the tour, another elevator ride exited us on the top of the dam (Fig. 15). After "topside" we walked around taking several picture around the area (Fig. 16).

(Fig. 11) (Fig. 12)

(Fig. 13) (Fig. 14)

(Fig. 15)

(Fig. 16)

(Fig. 17)

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Play a Slide Show

Clicking the picture-link below will open OneDrive in a new window and a folder containing 80 pictures taken of trips to the Hoover Dam. To view the show, click on the first picture in the folder and you will get the following menu bar:

Clicking the "Play slide show" will play a fullscreen window of the slide show.

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Note: Every attempt is made to provide accurate information, but occasionally depictions are inaccurate by error of mapping, navigation or cataloging. The information on this site is provided without any warranty, express or implied, and is for informational and historical purposes only.

Red Mountain Lookout at Bootleg Canyon - Summary Page

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(Fig. 01)

(Fig. 02)

Directions: There are two ways to start this trail; either hiking 2-3/4 miles up the River Mountain Trail from Boulder City along US-93 or driving up the  backside of Bootleg Canyon (on the dirt Bootleg Canyon Road) to a parking area at the top and then hiking a 1/2 mile trail to the summit. To drive up, (heading into Boulder City on highway 93) turn left onto Yucca Street. From Yucca Street, turn right onto Industrial Road and then left onto Canyon Road, which leads to a parking area about .5 miles from the Red Mountain Overlook. To hike up, go to the stoplight near downtown, left turn on Highway 93 and continue eastbound on Highway 93 for 0.7 miles. Watch for a “River Mountain” trailhead sign on the left and turn left onto a short access road that leads to a parking lot.

Description of the Red Mountain Trail: From the top of the saddle at the end of the River Mountain Trail, the trail runs west and up the hillside, then switchbacks back to the south and climbs onto the north end of the drive-up to the parking area (Fig. 01) and top right of (Fig. 02). From the parking area, hike south for about 0.28 miles. The trail gains the summit ridge before leading down to the top of the zip-line, lower center of (Fig. 02). The actual summit is off to the west, but it is occupied by a communication facilities and is closed to the public (Fig. 03). Read more about this at the bottom of this page. The trail leads southeast past the top of the zip-lines (Fig. 04) to Red Mountain Overlook, which serves as the summit. This trail adds about another .5 miles from the saddle plus an additional 400 feet in elevation gain. This entire trail and the overlook provides grand views out over Boulder City and lands to the east and south across Nevada and Arizona.

(Fig. 03)

12/29/2015 Trip Notes: This was actually my third hike to the overlook. Click here for more pictures and information on this hike ... Black Mt. & Red Mt. Trails at Bootleg Canyon. 05/07/2015 Trip Notes: After reaching the parking area (Fig. 01), we decided to hike up the Red Mountain Trail. We stopped about halfway up and had lunch with a view overlooking Las Vegas (Fig. 04). When we reached the zip line (Fig. 05), I got a picture of Jim with Boulder City in the background (Fig. 06). The view in (Fig. 07) is looking northeast towards the summit of the Black Mountain Trail. The view in (Fig. 08) is looking east towards Boulder City.  It was just after taking Jim's picture that a gust of wind nearly knocked us both over, blowing off Jim's glasses that had been lodged in his shirt. Unfortunately, he didn't realize it until we were more than halfway back down the River Mountain trail. When we got back to the trailhead, we drove up the Bootleg Canyon Road to the upper parking area (Fig. 02) and re-hiked this portion of the trail again looking for his glasses. Miraculously, he found them at a spot where the wind gust had nearly blown us over when we were there the first time. When we got back to the car I realized that you could actually see the bypass bridge that lies just west of the dam. The shot in (Fig. 09) was taken with my lens zoomed all the way out. By the end of the day we had quite a workout. All total we hiked nearly 6 miles with total elevation gains of more than 1400 feet.

(Fig. 04)

(Fig. 05)

(Fig. 06)

(Fig. 07)

(Fig. 08)

(Fig. 09)

VORTAC navaid and microwave facility: This former radar site is a present-day VORTAC facility (Fig. 10) sitting where the former Boulder City (Nevada) gap-filler radar annex (SM-163A / Z-163A) once was. During the late 1950s another area of progress was the development and deployment of AN/FPS-14 and AN/FPS-18 gap-filler radars. Having a range of around sixty-five miles, these radars were placed in areas where it was thought enemy aircraft could fly low to avoid detection by the longer-range radars of the permanent and mobile radar networks. Gap-filler radar deployment peaked in December 1960 at 131 sites throughout the continental United States.                         The acronym VORTAC stands for VHF Omni-directional Range/Tactical Aircraft Control. VOR is an acronym for Very high frequency Omni Range. The TAC stands for TACAN, a military designation for it's distance information on a VOR signal. In a nutshell, VHF Omni Directional Radio Range (VOR) is a type of short-range radio navigation system for aircraft, enabling aircraft with a receiving unit to determine their position and stay on course by receiving radio signals transmitted by a network of fixed ground radio beacons. A VORTAC is a navigational aid for aircraft pilots consisting of a co-located VHF omnidirectional range (VOR) beacon and a tactical air navigation system (TACAN) beacon. Both types of beacons provide pilots azimuth information, but the VOR system is generally used by civil aircraft and the TACAN system by military aircraft. However, the TACAN distance measuring equipment is also used for civil purposes because it is built to civil specifications. Most VOR installations in the United States are VORTACs. Various types of air navigation aids are in use today, each serving a special purpose. These aids have varied owners and operators, namely: the (FAA) and military services. It is because of this facility that many locals call the mountain, "Radar Mountain."

(Fig. 10)

Note: Every attempt is made to provide accurate information, but occasionally depictions are inaccurate by error of mapping, navigation or cataloging. The information on this site is provided without any warranty, express or implied, and is for informational and historical purposes only.

Return to [Bootleg Canyon Summary Page]

Hemingway Park - Desert Bighorn Sheep

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This page last updated on 01/09/2018  

(Fig. 01)

09/18/2015 Trip Notes: On the return from a tour of the Hoover Dam with my brother, we stopped by Hemingway Park that is located in Boulder City, overlooking Lake Mead. Although there is always a chance of spotting some of these sheep grazing in this park, this was one of the largest group I have seen here. I counted more than 42 sheep scattered around the park. It just amazes me as how docile these large animals can be; allowing you to get within just a few feet to capture their pictures. Though I took dozens of pictures, those in the collage in (Fig. 01) are some of today’s better pictures. Click on (Figs. 02 & 03) to enlarge and to look them right into their eye.

(Fig. 02)

(Fig. 03)

Black Mountain Overlook Hike at Bootleg Canyon - Summary Page

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12/29/2015 Trip Notes: This was actually my third hike to the overlook. Click here for more pictures and information on this hike ... Black Mt. & Red Mt. Trails at Bootleg Canyon.

05/30/2015 Trip Notes: Taking the Bootleg Canyon Road, we drove to the parking area at the top of the canyon. We then proceeded to hike to the top of Black Mountain. The picture in (Fig.02) shows the trail as it snakes it way to the summit in the upper right. The views from this trail and from the summit of Black Mountain were much better than those I had from the Red Mountain trail on my previous visit. Once we reached the summit we both sat on the bench (Fig. 03) to rest, have a snack and some water. There were outstanding views in every direction (Figs. 04 thru 07). Looking to the southeast was Boulder City (Fig. 04); to the northwest was Las Vegas (Fig. 05); to the northeast was Lake Mead (Fig. 06); and to the southwest were the solar plants in Eldorado Valley (Fig. 07). Unfortunately, I was staring directly into the early morning sun for several shots which hindered the quality of several of my pictures.Not only did we pass dozens of lizards along the trail to the top, I found this guy (Fig. 08) at the vary summit. (Fig. 09) was a final look at Lake Mead.

(Fig. 01)

Description: From the drive-up trailhead, there is no sign, but the trail starts down the hillside from the northeast corner of the parking area (refer to Fig. 01). As can be seen from the trailhead, the trail runs down about 0.2 miles the hillside to the intersection with the River Mountains "Foot" Trail. About 100 yards farther down the trail, the trail forks, with a bicycle trail going left (north) and down the hill, while the Black Mountain Trail goes right and up the hill (east). The first sign here reads: "River Mtn Hiking Trail, No Bicycles." The second sign states: "Foot Traffic Only." Follow the foot trail eastward as it slowly climbs toward Black Mountain Overlook (Fig. 02). The trail runs around a hill on the ridge and comes up to a nice overlook with views down into the canyon below, the trail coming up the canyon, and Boulder City in the distance. Continuing upward, the trail switchbacks to the right, then in about 110 feet, switchbacks 180-degrees to the left, at a spot where bedrock makes the switchback somewhat obscure and easy to miss. A a well-defined trail continues straight. for about 50 feet to an overlook view of Boulder City. If you missed the switchback (as we did) turn around and hike back 50 feet and the switchback becomes obvious. At the summit, elevation 3,526, the overlook is a great place to sit, relax, and take in the grand scene. To the north is Las Vegas, to the east is Lake Mead, to the south is Boulder City, and to the west are the Black Mountains. In all direction, mountain ranges stretch off into the distance. This last leg of the trail is about 0.6 miles, making the total round trip hike from the parking area about 1.6 miles with an elevation gain of 231 feet.
                             

(Fig. 02)

(Fig. 03)

(Fig. 04)

(Fig. 05)

(Fig. 06)

(Fig. 07)

(Fig. 08)

(Fig. 09)

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