#4 of 40 sights in Lake Mead
Beach · Lake Mead National Recreation Area
A rocky swim stop with volcanic cliffs across the basin.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Lake Mead Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Lake Mead National Recreation Area. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Lake Mead audio tourRecorded for this place
Boulder Beach: Swimming and Shore Access“The access for Boulder Beach is coming up. I'd stop here for a swim and time beside the open water, but expect a rocky shore. Changing lake levels can leave a long, rough walk between parking and the water.”
Plays as you drive up to Boulder Beach in the Parkwolf Lake Mead Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
Boulder Beach is the designated swimming shore on Boulder Basin, the broad open reach of Lake Mead. Come for a swim with the desert basin all around you; this is a rocky lakeshore, not a soft sand beach. I’d choose it for time in the water and the open view, not a quick stop just to look at the lake.
Don’t count on campground facilities being beside the water. The campground’s toilets and drinking-water points belong to a separate stop about 15 minutes away on foot. There’s no confirmed food service at the swimming shore, so plan to arrive with food and drinking water if you’ll be staying awhile.
The shore and lakebed are rocky, so water shoes make getting in and out much easier. There are no lifeguards anywhere in the park; keep children close around the water, and use a life jacket if you head out on the lake.
Across the water, Fortification Hill rises in the Black Mountains. Its dark cliffs are capped with Miocene basalt, built up by several lava flows before the modern Colorado River drainage took shape. For a beach photo, keep the rocks in the foreground and aim across the lake: they show what the entry is like and give the wide basin a sense of scale.
Wildlife
525 sightingsBighorn SheepMost seen around 5 PMSighting map
116 sightingsBurroMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
18 sightingsBald EagleMost seen around 4 PMSighting map
99 sightingsWhite PelicanMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
145 sightingsGreat Blue HeronMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
106 sightingsTurkey VultureMost seen around noonSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Lake Mead. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
EasyHistoric Railroad Trail7.5 mi · 3 hr · 2.4 mi awayFive dark tunnels on a railbed high above Lake Mead.
ChallengingRiver Mountains Loop Trail34.4 mi · 13 hr · 2.5 mi awayA paved circuit linking Lake Mead, Boulder City and Henderson.
EasySunset View Trail0.6 mi · 24 min · 3.8 mi awayA short loop with broad views over Lake Mead's Boulder Basin.
Beach · 0.4 mi awaySpecial Events BeachA rocky Boulder Basin beach reached by dirt road.
Beach · 0.7 mi awayCanoe/Kayak BeachA water’s-edge launch for Boulder Basin paddling.
Campground · 0.8 mi awayBoulder Beach CampgroundShaded, paved campsites with Lake Mead views near Boulder Beach.
Campground · 0.8 mi awayLake Mead RV VillageAn RV base with full hookups and lake-view sites.
Beach · 1.1 mi awayPersonal Watercraft BeachA rocky launch beach for personal watercraft.
Sight · 1.8 mi awayLas Vegas Boat HarborWalk the floating docks to see boats, fish, and waterfowl.
Restaurant · 1.8 mi awayHarbor House CaféDine above the slips with lake and desert ridges in view.
Sight · 2.1 mi awayLake Mead MarinaBoat slips, dockside dining, and desert views in one lakeside stop.Parkwolf’s Lake Mead ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
