St. George, Utah
While visiting the Hoover Dam the other day, we happened upon a great hike.
It’s The Historic Railroad Trail, originally used to transport materials while Hoover Dam was under construction.
It’s a 2.3 to 3.7 mile trail (one way depending on how far you go) which takes you through 5 tunnels with sights of Lake Mead with a final stop with a sight of the Hoover Dam if you go to the end. There are great views of Lake Mead, and informational kiosks explain the history of the railroad and tunnels.
The highlights of the trail include five tunnels. These tunnels are a whopping 25′ in diameter. They needed to be that big to accommodate the large loads transported to the dam site.
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Timeline & Facts
1931: Lewis Construction Company began construction under Bureau of Reclamation.
1961: Last year railroad in use.
1962: Tracks dismantled and sold for scrap.
1984: Nominated to National Register of Historic Places.
Length: 3.7 miles from trailhead to Hoover Dam Parking Garage.
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You can see the size of the tunnels as compared to the hikers.
Only a few of the entrances are shored up with timber.
I love how you can see the exit of one tunnel from the entrance of another.
It’s hard to imagine the difficulty of blasting the rock and creating the railway lines.
And at the end of our hike, a HUGE lizard. As near as I can guess, this is a Chuckwalla lizard. This one was about 12″ long, but they can grow to 16″. Yikes!
And I always wonder if lizards look at us and say, “Hideous, just hideous!” 🙂