Emerald Cave

Emerald Cave is a small grotto cut into the canyon wall on the Colorado River in Black Canyon, two river miles upriver from Willow Beach. Despite the name, it’s a shallow rock recess, not a cavern to explore on foot. Make the paddle and the canyon part of the visit; the cave itself is a quick look. Its emerald glow appears when the light hits the water at the right angle.

There’s no road or footpath to the opening; reach it by watercraft. From the Willow Beach launch, the usual outing is about two miles upstream to the cave and the same distance back. Willow Beach is 14 miles south of Hoover Dam off U.S. 93. Its launch ramp, rentals, store and restaurant are at the departure point, not at the cave, so don’t expect services at the grotto. Boating rules for this river reach vary by weekday and season; check the current rules if you’re bringing a motorized craft.

The green color depends on the light, so it isn’t guaranteed. Later afternoons are the usual summer target; in winter, aim closer to midday. When groups arrive together, the small recess can get a queue. Visitors have reported waits from around 20 minutes to more than an hour, so leave room for the stop to take longer than the few minutes spent inside.

The paddle through Black Canyon brings sheer multicolored cliffs, sandy beaches and secluded coves. Look up the slopes for desert bighorn sheep, often seen on the cliffs, and watch for historic structures from Hoover Dam’s construction along the river. The cave is a destination, but the water route is a big part of why this outing works.

Emerald Cave sits on the roughly 30-mile Black Canyon National Water Trail. The Colorado River reach received National Water Trail designation in 2014, the first in the Southwest and the first through a desert. That longer corridor puts this small recess into a much bigger landscape of river bends, canyon walls and coves.

The classic view is from the water: back a kayak into the recess and look out toward the river and canyon. Keep the green water in the foreground and the rock edge around the frame. The light changes the color, so the emerald look is a lucky condition, not something the cave promises every time.