My hike on the Historic Railroad Trail at Lake Mead National Recreation Area was a completely different experience from our scary but beautiful hike in Owl Canyon the week before.  Brian, Skipper, and I rode our bikes on the Railroad Trail on the weekend, and I knew I wanted to get back to capture some photos of this beautiful place.  While I like to think that I’m a good multi-tasker, picture taking while bike riding is beyond me. 😊  

I also wanted to read the signs stationed along the way to learn more about the trail, the area, and the history of building the dam.  So, Skipper and I ventured over to the trailhead early one morning.

We found the parking lot that was packed on Saturday afternoon when we rode our bikes to and on the trail nearly empty just before 8:00 on a cool weekday morning in February.  We experienced the same on the trail.  On Saturday afternoon, crowds of people walking, many in large groups, and other bicyclists packed the trail from start to finish in both directions.  On this weekday morning, I saw a total of about ten people, and most of them were starting their walk as we were wrapping up ours.

In 1931, workers constructed thirty miles of train tracks in and around the construction site of the Hoover Dam.  The segment which makes up the Railroad Trail, part of the U.S. Government Railroad, ran from Boulder City down Hemenway Wash to a concrete mixing plant at the Black Canyon. 

Trains operated 24 hours per day hauling construction materials.  I find it remarkable that workers completed the construction of the Hoover Dam in only five years.  That includes the short five months it took for them to build these train tracks over the Colorado River and literally through mountains.

The trail passes through five large tunnels (18 feet wide by 27 feet high) created for this segment of rail.   Original wood timbers constructed in 1931 to prevent rock from falling and damaging trains or equipment burned during a fire in 1990. 

The National Park Service replaced the timbers and added shotcrete to the walls to stabilize the tunnels.  The NPS continues to make repairs as needed to protect and maintain this trail along with the Bureau of Reclamation, which operates the Hoover Dam.

All but the short walk up from the parking lot is flat and the trail is quite wide.  On Saturday, I’m sure that I saw families of five walking side by side with plenty of room for one or two more.  It’s understandable why people want to spend time here.  The vistas over Lake Mead are stunning.

Certainly, there’s a history lesson to be learned about all of the efforts that went into the building of the Dam.  One sign on the trail mentions Ragtown, the area below the railroad where makeshift structures housed workers and their families under very primitive conditions with outhouses, no running water, and no electricity.  When you consider high summer temperatures over 120 degrees and low winter temperatures near freezing, I would say a big no thank you! But the Depression had folks needing work and the construction of the Dam employed thousands.  It’s a great example in our nation’s history of finding strength in adversity.

And it’s not the only history lesson available on the walk.  The Dam is recent history in comparison to the multi-colored rocks and mountains making up the area.  There are millions of years of history here.

With minimal traffic, we enjoyed a very peaceful walk.  We saw bighorn sheep up the steep hillside having breakfast — a welcome wildlife sighting after the encounter with the coyote the week before. 

The trail extends to the Dam itself.  The NPS lists the trail as 4.4 miles round trip.  I would guess that it’s 4.4 each direction.   Skipper and I walked a total of about 4.75 miles from the trailhead parking lot (just past the Visitor’s Center for Lake Mead’s National Recreation Area.  We went up the gravel (not paved) path through the fifth railroad tunnel and to the rest area (where you’ll find picnic tables and bathrooms) and back to the parking lot.  We chose not to walk all the way to the Dam. A .3 mile trail from the parking lot at the west end of the Hoover Dam Lodge, a private hotel and casino, to the Railroad Trail would eliminate about a half-mile or so of the walk.  And, looking at satellite views of the area, it seems there are also a few places to be dropped off or picked up allowing you to walk the trail oneway.

In any case, if you are in the area, it’s a trail that we would highly recommend whether it’s by bike or on foot.