Epic Travel → North America → Mountain States → Nevada → Historic Railroad Trail

Location: Black Canyon Area, Las Vegas, Nevada

Time Required: 1-2 hours

Distance: ~3.5 roundtrip to Tunnel 3

Elevation Gain: virtually none

Red Tape/Notes: Access requires a day pass (valid for 7 consecutive days) to Lake Mead NRA, which is $25 per vehicle. The trailhead parking area is just past the Lake Mead NRA Alan Bible Visitor Center (off Lakeshore Road just east of Boulder City); the trail is currently closed from the third tunnel due to instability in the beams of the tunnel, but you can still hike through the first and second tunnels. Additional information, including a trail map can be found at the Lake Mead NPS website.

What’s Nearby?: Bighorn Canyon, Weeping Springs Canyon, Secret Canyon, Goldstrike Canyon, Hoover Dam, Colorado River Hot Springs Packrafting, Ringpin Canyon

This easy hike is a great way to combine views of Lake Mead with some sweet, massive tunnels along the old Hoover Dam Railroad. The tunnels are huge because the railroad was carrying equipment for the dam, including massive pieces of penstock (pipes used to regulate the flow of water) – the penstock at Hoover Dam is ~30 feet in diameter. Most other sections of the railroad are now underwater, and this trail is closed at Tunnel 3 due to instability of the beams. This unfortunately means you can’t hike the entire trail – which runs from the Alan Bible Visitor Center area over to Hoover Dam – but the available section is still totally worthwhile. If you drive up LakeView Road (west of Hoover Dam on the 172) to the Lake Mead observation area, you actually be over Tunnel 5 and you can see Tunnel 4 in the wall of the rock to the west. All the tunnels are roughly 300 feet in length and 25 feet in diameter (presumably the pieces of penstock weren’t oriented by their cross-sections, seeing as they’re 30 feet in diameter), so probably seeing two of the five tunnels is sufficient. Just imagine that three more times.

Epic Travel → North America → Mountain States → Nevada → Historic Railroad Trail