A Morning Walk on the Historic Railroad Tunnel Trail
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National Parks Historic Railroad Tunnel Trail Map
One of our favorite places to walk locally is the Historic Railroad Tunnel Trail in Lake Mead National Recreation Area. It’s a fairly easy 4-mile out-and-back, hard-packed gravel path on the abandoned railroad line that was built to transport materials and supplies for the construction of the Hoover Dam back in the early 1930s.
The railroad fell into disuse after the dam was completed. The Bureau of Reclamation turned over the area to the US National Park Service (NPS) in 1936 to handle the influx of tourists visiting the new dam, but it wasn’t until the early 1960s that the tracks were finally removed, and any attention was paid to a possible rail-trail development. As an aside, the Lake Mead National Recreation Area was the nation’s first national recreation area officially designated as such by Act of Congress in 1964.
We’ve walked and ridden this multi-purpose trail often, and we seem to see something new each time we visit. The trail rises about 400-500’ above Lake Mead below, and the vistas are superb. The ‘bathtub ring’, the residual ring left from the lake’s high water mark, is quite obvious from this high vantage point.
Lake Mead’s ‘Bathtub Ring’ is very obvious from this vantage point.
It was a busy day on the trail. Couples were walking hand-in-hand, families with kids and strollers ambled along. People walked their dogs. Bicyclists, kids on scooters, and segues whizzed along the trail, zigzagging through and around the walkers. There are info posters and benches stretched out along the way, and some folks were busy reading about the trail or taking a break and enjoying the view.
Busy Day on the Railroad Tunnel Trail
Walking through the five tunnels is always interesting. The cool, dark tunnels offer a respite from the sun. Sometimes there are bats overhead, and I enjoy the echo chamber effect. David doesn’t think much about it, but my claustrophobia kicks in almost immediately. What if the tunnel collapses? None have since the early 1930s when they were built, but what if they decided to cave in today? I’m always happy to see ‘the light at the other end of the tunnel’.
I get just a little anxious walking through the tunnels.
On this visit, several things caught our attention. First, the wildflowers were beginning to bloom. White, yellow, orange, and purple blossoms all lent splashes of color to the dun-colored arid landscape, volcanic basalt rock, and Aztec redstone cliffs.
We stopped at what we used to consider the end of the trail at a covered picnic table to nosh on an apple and noticed that the continuation of the trail to the Hoover Dam was now open under the auspices of the BLM (Bureau of Land Management). There used to be a locked gate there, which we’ve skirted a few times in the past, but now the gate was open. The trail led all the way to Hoover Dam.
The trail now extends all the way to the Hoover Dam thanks to the BLM
Since we were aiming for a 10-mile day, we thought we’d walk a mile or so. Bright yellow brittlebrush snaked its way up the canyon ravines. The sky above was a perfect, cloudless cerulean blue. The temperature was warm and pleasant with a light breeze.
As we passed through a canyon area that had been carved out by the railroad construction, we noticed movement on one of the rocks. A chuckwalla! We’d never seen one ‘in the wild’ before, though they’re purported to be in this area. It’s amazing how spotting wildlife and wildflowers can add such enjoyment to a day.
What a handsome guy!
We pointed out our chuckwalla find to a 6-year-old hiking with his Mom. He pointed out that there was not one chuckwalla, but two. He had spotted yet another fat chuckwalla perched higher up on a rock, sunning himself, his long striped tail sweeping behind him.
And then there were two chuckwallas!
We continued a bit farther down the trail past what appeared to be an old equipment graveyard. When the road began its steep descent towards the dam, we decided to head back. Our chuckwallas had disappeared on our return trip.
By the time we returned to Blanche, we were just shy of our 10-mile goal. Not to worry, a couple of stops at big box stores on the way home would complete our day.
We’re already talking about next weekend’s walk… a ghost town, maybe?