| Lake Mead National Recreation Area |
IUCN Category V (Protected Landscape/Seascape)
|
|
|
| Location |
Mohave County, Arizona & Clark County, Nevada, USA |
| Nearest city |
Las Vegas, Nevada |
| Coordinates |
36°00′35″N 114°47′48″W / 36.00972°N 114.79667°W / 36.00972; -114.79667Coordinates: 36°00′35″N 114°47′48″W / 36.00972°N 114.79667°W / 36.00972; -114.79667 |
| Area |
1,495,665.69 acres (605,274 ha) |
| Established |
October 13, 1936 [1] |
| Visitors |
7,946,830 (in 2009) |
| Governing body |
National Park Service, Department of the Interior |
Lake Mead National Recreation Area is located in southern Nevada and northwestern Arizona. The centerpieces of the National Recreation Area are its two large reservoirs: Lake Mead and Lake Mohave. These lakes cater to boaters, swimmers, sunbathers, and fishermen while the surrounding desert rewards hikers, wildlife photographers, and roadside sightseers. Three of America's four desert ecosystems — the Mojave desert, the Great Basin desert, and the Sonoran Desert — meet in Lake Mead NRA. As a result, this seemingly barren area contains a surprising variety of plants and animals, some of which may be found nowhere else in the world.
Rock formations near Echo Bay
Originally called Boulder Dam Recreation Area, it was managed under a cooperative agreement between the National Park Service and the Bureau of Reclamation dating from October 13, 1936. The name was changed to Lake Mead National Recreation Area on August 11, 1947. On October 8, 1964, Congress passed enabling legislation (Public Law 88-639) officially creating Lake Mead National Recreation Area as a park in the national park system. The law directs the Secretary of the Interior to administer the area "...for general purposes of public recreation, benefit, and use, and in a manner that will preserve, develop, and enhance, so far as practicable, the recreation potential, and in a manner that will preserve the scenic, historic, scientific, and other important features of the area..."
About 20,000 acres (8,100 ha) of the recreation area are managed separately under the Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument, proclaimed in 2000. Water covers about 186,000 acres (75,000 ha) of the recreation area.
Lake Mead from the Hoover Dam
The Hoover Dam, which was completed in 1935 creating Lake Mead, is located within Lake Mead NRA. Tours of the dam and the Hoover Dam Visitor Center are managed by the United States Bureau of Reclamation.
[edit] Park resources
Satellite image of Lake Mead
- 900 plant species
- 500 animal species
- 25 threatened or endangered species
- Nine designated wilderness areas (185,000 acres (75,000 ha))
- 1.8 million years of geological occurrences
- 10,000 years of human presence
- Nevada’s first Traditional Cultural Property
[edit] Fish species
For 2009, Lake Mead National Recreation Area was the 5th most visited national park.
| Calendar Year |
Annual Visits Total |
Cumulative Visits |
|
|
| 1937 |
552,128 |
552,128 |
|
|
| 1938 |
533,914 |
1,086,042 |
-18,214 |
-3.30% |
| 1939 |
649,624 |
1,735,666 |
+115,710 |
+21.67% |
| 1940 |
668,027 |
2,403,693 |
+18,403 |
+2.83% |
| 1941 |
844,733 |
3,248,426 |
+176,706 |
+26.45% |
| 1942 |
338,778 |
3,587,204 |
-505,955 |
-59.90% |
| 1943 |
214,190 |
3,801,394 |
-124,588 |
-36.78% |
| 1944 |
263,533 |
4,064,927 |
+49,343 |
+23.04% |
| 1945 |
587,436 |
4,652,363 |
+323,903 |
+122.91% |
| 1946 |
1,165,369 |
5,817,732 |
+577,933 |
+98.38% |
| 1947 |
1,426,831 |
7,244,563 |
+261,462 |
+22.44% |
| 1948 |
1,654,004 |
8,898,567 |
+227,173 |
+15.92% |
| 1949 |
1,423,552 |
10,322,119 |
-230,452 |
-13.93% |
| 1950 |
1,798,280 |
12,120,399 |
+374,728 |
+26.32% |
| 1951 |
2,053,619 |
14,174,018 |
+255,339 |
+14.20% |
| 1952 |
1,946,706 |
16,120,724 |
-106,913 |
-5.21% |
| 1953 |
2,220,940 |
18,341,664 |
+274,234 |
+14.09% |
| 1954 |
2,112,724 |
20,454,388 |
-108,216 |
-4.87% |
| 1955 |
2,675,371 |
23,129,759 |
+562,647 |
+26.60% |
| 1956 |
2,672,774 |
25,802,533 |
-2,597 |
-0.10% |
| 1957 |
2,955,257 |
28,757,790 |
+282,483 |
+10.57% |
| 1958 |
3,190,580 |
31,948,370 |
+235,323 |
+7.96% |
| 1959 |
3,390,574 |
35,338,944 |
+199,994 |
+6.27% |
| 1960 |
2,254,185 |
37,593,129 |
-1,136,389 |
-33.50% |
| 1961 |
2,219,960 |
39,813,089 |
-34,225 |
-1.50% |
| 1962 |
2,688,745 |
42,501,834 |
+468,785 |
+21.10% |
| 1963 |
3,349,565 |
45,851,399 |
+660,820 |
+24.60% |
| 1964 |
3,462,580 |
49,313,979 |
+113,015 |
+3.40% |
| 1965 |
3,594,065 |
52,908,044 |
+131,485 |
+3.80% |
| 1966 |
3,720,485 |
56,628,529 |
+126,420 |
+3.50% |
| 1967 |
4,102,335 |
60,730,864 |
+381.85 |
+10.30% |
| 1968 |
4,751,795 |
65,482,659 |
+649,460 |
+15.80% |
| 1969 |
5,614,940 |
71,097,599 |
+863,145 |
+18.20% |
| 1970 |
4,897,135 |
75,994,734 |
-717,805 |
-12.80% |
| 1971 |
4,570,229 |
80,564,963 |
-326,906 |
-6.70% |
| 1972 |
4,888,640 |
85,453,599 |
+318,407 |
+6.90% |
| 1973 |
5,534,315 |
90,987,914 |
+645,679 |
+13.20% |
| 1974 |
5,939,533 |
96,927,447 |
+405,218 |
+7.32% |
| 1975 |
6,219,220 |
103,146,667 |
+279,687 |
+4.70% |
| 1976 |
6,948,611 |
110,095,278 |
+729,391 |
+11.72% |
| 1977 |
6,529,848 |
116,625,126 |
-418,763 |
-6.00% |
| 1978 |
6,879,870 |
123,504,996 |
+350.022 |
+5.30% |
| 1979 |
6,378,341 |
129,883,337 |
-501,529 |
-7.30% |
| 1980 |
5,145,699 |
135,029,036 |
-1,232,642 |
-19.30% |
| 1981 |
5,406,184 |
140,435,220 |
+260,485 |
+0.05% |
| 1982 |
5,565,467 |
146,000,687 |
+159,283 |
+3.00% |
| 1983 |
6,128,254 |
152,128,941 |
+562,787 |
+10.10% |
| 1984 |
6,504,206 |
158,633,147 |
+375,952 |
+6.10% |
| 1985 |
7,204,295 |
165,837,442 |
+700,089 |
+10.70% |
| 1986 |
8,034,542 |
173,871,984 |
+830,247 |
+11.50% |
| 1987 |
8,392,419 |
182,264,403 |
+357,877 |
+4.50% |
| 1988 |
8,629,895 |
190,894,298 |
+237,476 |
+2.83% |
| 1989 |
8,803,414 |
199,697,712 |
+173,519 |
+2.00% |
| 1990 |
8,893,495 |
208,591,207 |
+90.081 |
+1.02% |
| 1991 |
8,751,312 |
217,342,519 |
-142,183 |
-1.59% |
| 1992 |
9,343,549 |
226,686,068 |
+592,237 |
+6.80% |
| 1993 |
9,265,520 |
235,951,588 |
-78,029 |
-0.84% |
| 1994 |
9,913,705 |
245,865,293 |
+648,185 |
+7.00% |
| 1995 |
10,195,546 |
256,060,839 |
+281,841 |
+2.85% |
| 1996 |
9,689,997 |
265,750,836 |
-505,549 |
-4.96% |
| 1997 |
8,837,742 |
274,588,578 |
-852,255 |
-8.80% |
| 1998 |
9,106,793 |
283,695,371 |
+269,051 |
+3.00% |
| 1999 |
9,351,237 |
293,046,608 |
+244,444 |
+2.68% |
| 2000 |
9,072,545 |
302,119,153 |
-278,692 |
-3.00% |
| 2001 |
8,772,589 |
310,891,742 |
-299,956 |
-3.31% |
| 2002 |
7,824,128 |
318,715,870 |
-948,461 |
-10.81% |
| 2003 |
8,202,677 |
326,918,545 |
+378,547 |
+4.84% |
| 2004 |
8,103,609 |
335,022,154 |
-99,066 |
-1.21% |
| 2005 |
7,971,437 |
342,993,591 |
-132,172 |
-1.63% |
| 2006 |
8,059,850 |
351,053,441 |
+88,413 |
+1.11% |
| 2007 |
7,898,592 |
358,952,033 |
-161,258 |
-2.00% |
| 2008 |
7,877,581 |
366,829,614 |
-21,011 |
-0.27% |
| 2009 |
7,946,830 |
374,776,444 |
+69,249 |
+0.88% |
[edit] References
[edit] External links
|
|
|
| Federal |
|
|
| State |
|
|
|
Historic Parks:
|
|
|
|
Recreation Areas:
|
|
|
|
Other:
|
|
|
|
Previous:
|
|
|
|
|
