| Lake Mead National Recreation Area | |
|---|---|
IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape) | |
    | |
| Location | Clark County, Nevada and Mohave County, Arizona, United States |
| Nearest city | Boulder City and Las Vegas, Nevada |
| Coordinates | 36°00′35″N 114°47′48″W / 36.00972°N 114.79667°W |
| Area | 1,495,806 acres (6,053.31 km2)[1] |
| Established | October 13, 1936[2] |
| Visitors | 5,578,226 (in 2022)[3] |
| Governing body | Department of the Interior (DOI) National Park Service (NPS) |
| Website | Lake Mead National Recreation Area |
Lake Mead National Recreation Area is a U.S. national recreation area in Southeastern Nevada and Northwestern Arizona. Operated by the National Park Service, Lake Mead NRA follows the Colorado River corridor from the westernmost boundary of Grand Canyon National Park to just north of the cities of Laughlin, Nevada and Bullhead City, Arizona. It includes all of the eponymous Lake Mead as well as the smaller Lake Mohave – reservoirs on the river created by Hoover Dam and Davis Dam, respectively – and the surrounding desert terrain and wilderness.[4]
Formation of Lake Mead began in 1935, less than a year before Hoover Dam was completed.[4] The area surrounding Lake Mead was protected as a bird refuge in 1933[5] and later established as the Boulder Dam Recreation Area in 1936[6] and the name was changed to Lake Mead National Recreation Area in 1947.[7] In 1964, the area was expanded to include Lake Mohave and its surrounding area and became the first National Recreation Area to be designated as such by the U.S. Congress.[8]
- ^ "Listing of acreage – December 31, 2011" (XLSX). Land Resource Division, National Park Service. Retrieved December 14, 2012. (National Park Service Acreage Reports)
- ^ "Listing of National Park System Areas by State". National Park Service.
- ^ "Annual Park Ranking Report for Recreation Visits in: 2022". nps.gov. National Park Service. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
- ^ a b Crossley, John. "Lake Mead National Recreation Area". The American Southwest. Retrieved 2013-11-15.
- ^ Rothman, Hal K. (June 2002). "Balancing the Mandates: An Administrative History of Lake Mead National Recreation Area" (PDF). National Park Service.
- ^ Dodd, Douglas W. (2006-12-01). "Boulder Dam Recreation Area: The Bureau of Reclamation, the National Park Service, and the Origins of the National Recreation Area Concept at Lake Mead, 1929–1936". Southern California Quarterly. 88 (4): 431–473. doi:10.2307/41172340. ISSN 0038-3929. JSTOR 41172340.
- ^ "Lake Mead National Recreation Area: Historic Timeline". National Park Service. Retrieved 2013-11-15.
- ^ "Press Kit: About Lake Mead National Recreation Area" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved 2013-11-15.