Echo Bay Campground

Echo Bay Campground is a developed National Park Service camping area on the northwestern Overton Arm of Lake Mead, about five miles down the Echo Bay turnoff from Northshore Road. It makes sense as an overnight base for time on the water, boating or fishing, not as a quick pullout. The paved sites take tents or RVs and have a picnic table with a fire ring or grill; some have shade and a lake view. The remote setting is also a good reason to stay after dark and look up. Summer days often top 100°F, so plan around desert heat; the campground is open year-round.

The NPS campground has restrooms, water spigots, potable-water refill and a dump station near the Upper entrance, but no showers. The wider Echo Bay developed area also has a boat launch, small picnic area, store and fish-cleaning station. This entry covers Echo Bay's Upper and Lower NPS campground areas; the map pin is at Upper. The nearby Echo Bay RV Village is a separate concession site, so its showers and full hookups aren't part of this campground.

Echo Bay once had a much larger resort around the water. A 54-room hotel opened in 1962 with a restaurant called Tail 'o the Whale, a bar and a conference room; the marina could hold about 300 boats. As the lake receded and visits fell, the hotel closed in 2010 and the marina followed three years later. That history explains why this quiet corner of the Overton Arm once had facilities on a very different scale.