Overview

This pleasant 4.4-mile walk (round trip) follows an old railroad bed through five 300-foot-long, 25-ft-diameter tunnels cut through volcanic ridges high above Lake Mead. Hiking here isn't a wilderness experience, but it is a fun walk through historic tunnels in a scenic desert setting. The "railroad tunnels" part of the hike starts near the Visitor Center and runs east to just beyond the fifth tunnel, which runs, literally, underneath the Lakeview Scenic Overlook, but it does not actually connect to the Overlook. The trail now extends from there all the way to Hoover Dam, adding another 3 miles to the round-trip hike.

Link to map.

The railroad was built in 1931 for hauling equipment and materials during the construction of Hoover Dam. The railroad was used heavily until the dam was finished in 1935, but they continued to use it until 1961. The tracks were dismantled in 1962, and the site was nominated to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. For more information on the history of the railroad, see a PDF (140 KB) produced by the National Park Service.

Watch Out

Other than the standard warnings about hiking in the desert, ...this hike is pretty safe, given that the trail is a wide, flat, railroad bed running at a gentle grade. There are, however, considerable drop-offs along the edges where, if you stumbled off the roadbed, you could tumble a long ways down the hillside. There is at least one old mine shaft near the trail; it is never safe to enter old mine shafts.

While hiking, please respect the land and the other people out there, and try to Leave No Trace of your passage. Also, even though this is a short hike, bring what you need of the 10 Essentials.

Getting to the Trailhead

This hike is located along Highway 93 in Lake Mead National Recreation Area, about 1 hour southeast of downtown Las Vegas.

From town, drive out to Lake Mead. Drive south on Highway 93, through Boulder City, to Lakeshore Road (Table 1, Site 803). Turn left (north) onto Lakeshore Road and drive north for a few tenths of a mile to the Lake Mead (Alan Bible) Visitor Center turnoff (Site 655). Pass the turnoff, drive another 0.1 miles, and turn right (southeast) into a large parking area (Site 820). Park here; this is the trailhead.

This trailhead is outside the fee area.

The Hike

From the trailhead (Table 2, Waypoint 1) on the west side of the parking lot by two large information signs, the trail runs west on what appears to be an old road that quickly curves to the south and bends around to the east in a big arc, which is the direction you would expect to be going. The curving road meets an east-west running railroad bed near a cut through a low ridge of yellow volcanic ash with a gate (Wpt. 2) that excludes vehicles from the trail.

The "old road" from the trailhead to the gate is actually the roadbed of the Six Companies railroad that ran from here to gravel pits, a sorting plant, and the Lomix concrete mixing plant. More of this old railroad bed can be seen running north-northwest across Lakeshore Road from the parking lot. Lomix, one of the two on-site concrete mixing plants, was down in the canyon on the Nevada side, about a kilometer upriver from the dam and close to the river level; it is now flooded.

The flat area before the gate is the approximate site of Lawler, the railroad junction where the Six Companies railroad (built to haul aggregate for the concrete used in the dam, power houses, and ancillary works) met the U.S. Government railroad that ran from Boulder City to the edge of the canyon above the dam. The Lawler junction probably consisted of a short section of double track, three turnouts, and a shed for switch tenders and a telegraph operator.

Just past the roadcut, the trail crosses a wash that comes down from the south. The Hacienda Hotel (with its noisy helicopter rides) sits at the top of the wash. Through here and just beyond, the trail runs across a jumbled area of strikingly colorful volcanic ash. There is lots of color in the rocks, mostly yellows and reds, but including greens, oranges, tans, and pale gray. Farther out, the trail runs almost entirely along black volcanic cliffs. The dominant vegetation along this part of the trail is stunted creosote bush and white bursage with a few other shrubs mixed in. During spring, there can be many wild flowers along the trail.

From the gate, the trail runs out along the roadbed for about 1 mile to the 1st tunnel (Wpt. 3). Approaching the first tunnel, the cliffs get higher and steeper and the valley floor seems to fall away into the lake. As you come around the corner to where you can first see the first tunnel, you can look through it and see the second tunnel in the distance.

At the far end of the first tunnel, there are nine 20-ft-tall wooden timbers on each side of the tunnel that are capped with a wooden arch. These timbers support the roof and prevent loose rocks from falling onto the roadbed. The timbers are in remarkable condition considering that they have been here for some 70 years. Originally, the eastern ends of all five tunnels were shored up with these timbers; unfortunately however, the timbers in the second and fifth tunnels were burned by arsons. Some of the arches have been damaged by falling rock (proving their value), and on the fourth tunnel, fallen rocks have deformed the arch.

Past the first tunnel, the trail continues eastward along the roadbed and passes through four more tunnels. All along the wall of the canyon, and especially between the first and second tunnels, there is an amazing amount of bright green lichen on the black volcanic rock. Lichens are a symbiotic combination of fungi and algae that grow on the surface of bare rocks. It is hard to imagine that something like this can grow on black rocks in the desert. They are, however, growing on the shady side, and you can see that many other shrubs survive here too. The same species grow here as were back on the alluvial fan at the trailhead, but here they look bigger and more robust, and there are several other species growing here in that can't survive out on the flats. In particular, there is a lot of pygmycedar along the cliffs.

Between the fourth and fifth tunnels, the Lakeview Overlook can be seen atop the cliff above the fifth tunnel (the tunnel goes under the overlook). You can see the stonework along the edge of the overlook and wave at the people up there. Some people scramble up the cliffs to the overlook, but it doesn't look very safe.

The fifth tunnel seems longer than the others and has a sharp bend in the middle that prevents you from seeing the other end, making this tunnel much darker than the others.

Just past the fifth tunnel (Wpt. 4), the trail passes through a gate with a sign saying that it is open during daylight hours. Through the gate, the trail runs around the back of the highway maintenance yard and on down the canyon for another 1.5 miles on a "trail" road.

From the fifth tunnel, consider going through the gate and then climbing up to the viewpoint (Lakeview Scenic Overlook), then either continuing on to the dam or returning to the trailhead by walking back down the trail.

The rocky knob on the ridge outside of the fourth tunnel makes for a nice place to scramble out and eat lunch.