20 Attractions to Explore Near Lake Mead National Recreation Area

The Black Mountains of northwest Arizona are an extensive, mostly linear, north-south trending 75 miles (121 km) long mountain range. It forms the north-south border of southwest Mohave County as it borders the eastern shore of the south-flowing Colorado River from Hoover Dam.The mountain range is generally 10-15 mi wide, narrower in the north, and west of the Detrital Valley northeast.

Katherine Landing is a full-service marina featuring a full hook-up RV park, campground, boat and equipment rentals, boat slips, launch ramp, picnic area, marina, dry storage, café, general store and other resort amenities. Boat rentals range from personal watercraft to 16-foot fishing boats, 20-foot runabouts for waterskiing and exploring, and 28-foot patio boats that hold up to 10 people.

Davis Dam spans the Colorado River in Pyramid Canyon 67 miles downstream from Hoover Dam and 88 miles upstream from Parker Dam.The earth fill dam begins on the Nevada side, but it does not extend to the Arizona side on the east. Instead, there is an inlet formed by earth and concrete, that includes the spillway. The hydroelectric power plant is beside the inlet.

The Black Canyon of the Colorado is the canyon on the Colorado River where Hoover Dam was built. The canyon is located on the Colorado River at the state line between Nevada and Arizona. The western wall of the gorge is in the El Dorado Mountains, and the eastern wall is in the Black Mountains of Arizona. The canyon formed about 15 million years ago during the Miocene Basin and Range uplift. Black Canyon gets its name from the black volcanic rocks that are found throughout the area.

The 30,760-acre Mount Tipton Wilderness is located in Mohave County, 25 miles north of Kingman, Arizona. This wilderness includes the entire northern half of the imposing Cerbat Mountains. Although Mount Tipton Peak, at 7,148 feet, dominates the wilderness, the true centerpiece and main scenic attraction here is the Cerbat Pinnacles. Located north of and below Mount Tipton, the Pinnacles, immense tusk-like rows of maroon-colored spires, stand majestically above open, tawny-colored valleys.

The 30,760-acre Mount Tipton Wilderness is located in Mohave County, 25 miles north of Kingman, Arizona. The nearest access point to the wilderness is the Dolan Springs community located on the northwest flank of the Cerbat Mountains and directly west of the wilderness area. Five access routes are described for the wilderness.Besides hiking trails during seasonally good weather, attractions of the wilderness are wild mustang horses.

Castle Mountains National Monument is a U.S. National Monument located in the eastern Mojave Desert and northeastern San Bernardino County, in the state of California. The park protects 20,920 acres, located between the interstates I−15 and I−40, and northwest of the Colorado River. The national monument protects a section of the Castle Mountains, a range located in San Bernardino County and Clark County, Nevada.

Willow Beach is located on the Arizona side of the Colorado River between Lake Mead and Lake Mohave. Both Lake Mead and Lake Mohave are part of the Lake Mead National Recreation Area administered by the U.S. National Park Service.Willow Beach was a trade major center for Mojave and Virgin Ancestral Pueblo people along the routes between Coastal California and the American Southwest between 500 and 1200 CE

Mount Nutt Wilderness is home to more than 100 desert bighorn sheep and burro. The desert is also home to several species of lizards, birds, and small mammals. This desert wilderness sits among a maze of desert canyons and steep mesas, surrounded by volcanic plugs.

Emerald Cove is a beautiful, secluded cove on the Colorado River, a few kilometers downstream from the Hoover Dam. This area is known for its clear greenish-blue waters. Emerald Cove gets its name from the beautiful green water that is created by the sun reflecting off the white silt that lines the bottom of the cove.

Sitgreaves Pass is a mountain pass at an elevation of 1.096m above the sea level. It is also known as the Oatman Highway. The road is pretty narrow, very curvy, with lots of blind hairpin turns and with no shoulders. It’s a fabulous drive if you are not scared of heights or of tumbling down a mountain side.

Boundary Cone is a geologic promontory located in the western foothills of the Black Mountains in Mohave County, Arizona. The peak is to the east of the Mohave Valley, northeast of Needles, California, and southeast of Bullhead City. The peak is about 4 miles southwest of the mountain community of Oatman and 12 miles east of the Colorado River.

The 11,300 acre Cerbat Foothills Recreation Area is a mixture of federal, state, county, city, and private lands. This Area includes 37+ miles of trails with several trailheads. Trails are for hiking, equestrian and mountain biking.

Liberty Bell Arch is located in a very accessible region of the park. It is so named for it's resemblance to the famous Liberty Bell, at Independence National Historic Park in Pennsylvania. It even includes the "clapper", or the round part of the bell that causes it to ring.Over millions of years nature formed this geologic structure that is more commonly found in Arches National Monument.

A beautiful trail located along the Colorado River just south of the Hoover Dam. Tucked away inside a colorful slot canyon, these hot springs offer a beautiful environment to enjoy a nice long soak.

The Monolith Garden Trail is open to hikers, mountain bikers, horseback riders and trail runners. This series of loop trails about 9 miles/14.4km in length, meanders through Mohave Desert vegetation and interesting volcanic rock formations.

White Cliffs Wagon Trail is part of an old wagon route used in the late 1800s to bring ore from the Stockton Hill Mines to the railroad. The wagon tracks have been cut deep into the stone and there are depressions along both sides of the roadbed, which were used for stubbing posts and ropes to help get the heavy wagons up and down the grade.

A majestic museum dedicated to the purposes of preserving the heritage of Northwestern Arizona and of presenting that history to the public. The Museum and Library house a collection of artifacts, photographs, oral histories, manuscripts, maps, newspapers, and publications that document the history of Mohave County, Arizona. It was founded in 1961 by the Mohave Historical Society.

Mount Wilson is a mountain in Mohave County, Arizona, U.S. At 5,456 feet, it is the second highest point of the Black Mountains after Mount Perkins. Mount Wilson Wilderness is a 23,900-acre protected wilderness area centered around the mountain, established in 1990 under the Arizona Desert Wilderness Act and managed by the Bureau of Land Management. This desert wilderness includes eight miles of the Wilson Ridge and is surrounded by the Lake Mead National Recreation Area.

Metcalfe Park is a small park bearing the namesake of the surrounding neighborhood of Metcalfe, Omaha, Nebraska, located at 1700 Country Club Avenue. The park includes the Hollis and Helen Baright Playground. A long sloping green is popular with kids, dogs and adults for soccer, lacrosse, catch and playing fetch, with “the pencil tree” often playing the role of home base. Other features include a Little Free Library, a bike repair stand with tools and tire pump, three pet waste bag stations.