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Jim Rosenberg
Jim Rosenberg
First Reviewer
4 out of 5
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47
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Hoover Dam Discovery Tour

  • March 31, 2007
  • Rated 5 of 5 by Rezonate from San Diego, California
We made the 40-minute drive from Las Vegas to the Hoover Dam and parked in their visitor center for $7. The Discovery tour is $11 per person, with discounts for children, seniors, and military. The tour begins with a short movie containing historical footage, then you're loaded onto the elevators (about 30-40 people packed in, so if you don't like crowded elevators, this may not be for you). Then you descend 500 feet (170 meters) into the depths of the dam, to view the generator room and water transfer tunnels. The terrazzo floor is 3 inches (8cm) thick, and decorated with Native American symbols for power. The tour guides are interesting and knowledgeable. Finally, the tour brings you back to the surface and the interpretive center. You are then free to explore other parts of the Hoover Dam experience, such as the memorial to those who died during construction, the plaza with winged statues and model of the night sky on dedication day, or the top of the dam itself. The entire experience was a treat, and unexpectedly well worth the effort. One of the truly cool places we've been.

From journal Spring Break in Las Vegas

Editor Pick

Hoover Dam

  • September 27, 2006
  • Rated 5 of 5 by airynfaerie from St. Augustine, Florida
Hoover Dam

Just a couple hours drive from Las Vegas is a architechtural wonder on the Nevada-Arizona border. The Hoover Dam cuts through the Colorado River next to the Lake Mead recreational area and offers hours of exploration for the tourist, young and old. We arrived early in the day, around 9:00 which is when the visitor center opens. This gave us ample parking spaces to choose from in the parking garage and little to no traffic leading into the dam area. Currenly there is construction on a huge bridge that will pass over the dam for through traffic, but until the completion date in 2008, expect more delays while passing through the narrow, winding roads near the site. The tour ticket also allows you entry into the Old Exhibit building to have a look at a model of the Colorado River and how the power is shared throughout the southeast. Of course, it is free to just walk along the dam and the outside exhibits, including the "Winged Figures of the Republic" statues and memorial grounds. Be sure to rub the toes of the winged figures - it's supposed to bring good luck!

The Hoover Dam is a must-see on any trip to the Vegas area. It's an educational and exciting sight to see!

The parking garage fee is $7 (cash only) and there are overflow parking lots on the Arizona side of the dam for various rates. The tours run until 5pm daily, year round and the $11/adult (discounts for seniors/children) for the inside tour is well worth the expense. This extensive tour includes a video presentation of "How the West was Won" which gives an in-depth visual and history report of the dam, a walking tour into the dam (over 500ft down) to see the generators and tunnels, a visit to the museum and exhibit hall, and also a walk onto the observation deck to get a bird's eye view over the dam. Your tour ticket will also allow entrance into the Old Exhibit building, which takes you thorugh an audio tour over an extensive model of the Colorado River and how power is shared throughout the southeast. Of course, it is free to walk along the dam and outside exhibits including the "Winged Figures of the Republic" statues in the outdoor memorial. Don't forget to rub the toes of the winged figures - it's supposed to bring good luck!

A visit to the Hoover Dam is a must-see for any trip to the Vegas area. It's an educational and exciting sight that will impart awe to visitors!

From journal Exciting Day-Trips from Vegas

Hoover Dam

  • August 2, 2006
  • Rated 5 of 5 by hbic from New Haven, Indiana
Hoover Dam

I was really not interested in going to see the Hoover Dam, but my husband wanted to go. We set up tour through a local company that cost $30 each. We took a bus to get there. I absolutely loved seeing Lake Mead it was beautiful! The bus driver even stopped on the way back so we could take photos. Being from Indiana I have never been to the west and seeing the mountains was nice too. The scenery was worth the trip to me. The Hoover Dam was magnificent! The size is just unbelievable. The scenery here was worth the trip also. Great photo opportunities! The tour was pretty boring for me. I am just not into the workings of a dam. I am glad I went though.

From journal Las Vegas

Editor Pick

Hoover Dam

  • July 7, 2006
  • Rated 2 of 5 by Saphira from Pine Hill, New Jersey
Hoover Dam

After walking around the outside snapping a million pictures, we found out that the visitor’s center and tour would be closed due to it being September 11th. We would have to come back another day.

When you drive up to the Hoover Dam from Las Vegas, cross over to the Arizona side. The official Hoover Dam parking garage charges $7 to park. There are several free parking areas on the Arizona side. You just have to walk a little further, but it’s worth it.

Once out of your car, you are free to roam around the outside and take pictures and marvel at the grand architectural achievement. If you desire you can take the “discovery tour.” I would only recommend this if you are really into history, love the show “modern marvels”, or just absolutely must take every imaginable tour everywhere you go. After purchasing your ticket you are crammed with many strangers into an elevator that takes you down below. You walk through some spooky tunnels until you come to the turbine room. Your tour guide gives you some information on the turbines and then back through the spooky tunnels and up the elevator you go. You are then encouraged to explore the museum with many various exhibits on the building and history of the Dam. Because I love people and history, I found this part very fun. If you are not the kind of person who loves to exam exhibits reading each and every plaque, I am sure you would find this part boring. Up on one of the balcony look out points was a park ranger who told the stories of all the bizarre and gruesome ways people had died while building the Hoover Dam. It was so interesting we listened to it twice. The most interesting story involved a father and son who were both killed on the same day only years apart while building the Dam. Tickets for the Discovery tour are $11.00 for adults and $6.00 for children. If you visit Las Vegas you should at least see the outside of Hoover Dam and take a few pictures. If you want to spend the money on the tour you can, but know that you actually see very little of the inside of the Dam and are mostly paying for the special museum like exhibits that may not interest you or your family.

From journal Las Vegas- A Different WILD

Editor Pick

Hoover Dam

  • September 9, 2005
  • Rated 4 of 5 by am331 from New Jersey, New Jersey
Hoover Dam

This is a good place to stop along the drive from Las Vegas to Grand Canyon. It's only about a half-hour from Las Vegas. This engineering marvel is located in Black Canyon, 30 miles west of Las Vegas at the Nevada-Arizona border. It's run by The Bureau of Reclamation, and they started running tours of it in 1937. Its height is 726.4 feet, and it weighs more than 6,600,000 tons. On the other side of the dam is Lake Meade.

Hoover Dam was built from 1931 to 1936 (it took 5 years to complete) to divert the waters of the Colorado River and allow Las Vegas and most of the Southwest to be inhabitable! The dam is named for Herbert Hoover, the 31st president, who strongly supported construction of this dam. The course of the Colorado Rover is 1,400 miles and runs from the Colorado Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of Mexico. The main problems prior to the construction of the dam came from the fact that the river often flooded low-lying areas such as farmland in the spring and early summer as snow from the mountains caps melted. The dam was created to control this flow and ensure a year-round stable water supply. Even today the Hoover Dam provides the hydroelectric power that is used in most parts of Nevada, Arizona, and California.

There is a $10 per person fee to go down to the visitor center and see the "bowels" of the dam and hear the informational talks and see exhibits, and it's well worth it if you make the trip to the dam! One of my favorite parts was seeing the power plant generators: we were able to walk through the 250-foot-long tunnel drilled out of rock and view the 650-foot-long Nevada wing of the power plant and its eight huge generators. There are also murals, maps, photos, and other displays that provide an introduction to Hoover Dam history. Talks by guides are presented every 15 minutes from 9:30am to 4:45pm. Prior to the tour, they take a picture of you in front of a Hoover Dam backdrop, and we thought it would be tacky, but it was actually very cute and we bought it! It also costs $5 to park here, and some people skip the tour of the inside of the dam and simply walk across it to enjoy the views. It's a very informative and historical place to visit!

From journal Family Vacation in Vegas

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