Sight · Lake Mead National Recreation Area
A boat launch on Overton Arm with a small picnic stop nearby.
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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
Echo Bay: A Quieter Resort Shore“You're approaching Echo Bay, a camping and boating base on the Overton Arm. For a short visit, I'd choose the small overlook picnic area, looking across the water toward desert mountains.”
Plays as you drive up to Echo Bay 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
Echo Bay is a natural bay on Lake Mead's Overton Arm, reached from Northshore Road. The ramp, dock and boat-trailer parking make this a practical stop for getting onto the water; anglers use the arm for striped bass and largemouth bass. The Echo Bay turnoff is about 10 miles south of the Northshore entrance station.
The Echo Bay Overlook Picnic Area is a short way from the launch, with two tables and restrooms. There are no grills or drinking water there, so don't plan on it as a meal stop. The area is in the park's fee zone; keep your pass or proof of admission with you.
Lake levels shift, and receding water can leave deceptively soft mud along the shore. People and vehicles have become stuck, so test the ground before committing to a walk or drive toward the water. Ramp conditions and boat access can change with the lake; check current launch information before setting out. Allow for a possible wait to launch or recover a boat, and take care because launching is at your own risk.
Echo Bay once had a 54-room hotel, opened in 1962, with a restaurant and a marina that could hold 300 boats. The hotel closed in 2010 as drought and falling lake levels reduced activity. The hotel closed in 2010, and those resort-era services are no longer visitor amenities.
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.
Parkwolf’s Lake Mead ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
