Pearce Ferry Boat Ramp

Overview

About Pearce Ferry Boat Ramp

Why stop

A rare look at the Colorado River emerging from Grand Canyon.

Heads up

Access is limited to permitted rafting trips.

Map

Where it is

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Full map

SightPearce Ferry Boat Ramp36.12589, -113.98219

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Plan your stop

Before you go

A permitted river takeout

Pearce Ferry Boat Ramp is the concrete takeout on the Colorado River where it leaves Grand Canyon and enters Lake Mead. Permitted rafting trips use this endpoint. The takeout area is reserved for permitted rafting trips, and the public may not launch watercraft here. Swimming, fishing, camping and shoreline fires are also prohibited in the river-running and re-rigging area. For a public drive-in view, use the separate Pearce Ferry Scenic Overlook rather than treating the takeout as a general river stop.

4 active Lake Mead alerts

CautionHarmful algae bloom at Nelson’s Landing and Cottonwood CoveA harmful algae bloom has been confirmed in recent samples from Nelson’s Landing and Cottonwood Cove; avoid contact with water where algae is visible.Official details
CautionArizona Hot Springs bacteria advisoryLimit body contact with Arizona Hot Springs water: fecal bacteria in samples frequently reach high levels and can transmit human diseases.Official details

See all 4 alerts

A park ranger sits on a dash-mounted phone, talking, as Parkwolf’s Tour Guide plays “Army Cutworm Moths: A Grizzly Bear Buffet” on Grand Loop Road below Dunraven Pass in Yellowstone — Parkwolf Tour GuideThe highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.

Lake Mead Tour Guide

Your drive to Pearce Ferry Boat Ramp, narrated.

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.

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Recorded for this place

Pearce Ferry: River Takeout and Historic Crossing

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“You're nearing Pearce Ferry, where permitted rafting trips finish their journeys down the Colorado River. The ramp is a working takeout, with no public boat launching, and the rafting shoreline isn't a swimming spot.”

Plays as you drive up to Pearce Ferry Boat Ramp in the Parkwolf Lake Mead Tour Guide.

More about Pearce Ferry Boat Ramp

What trip participants findParking and a toilet are indicated at the takeout, though the toilet type and condition are not…

Parking and a toilet are indicated at the takeout, though the toilet type and condition are not established. Potable water and food service were not found, so river-trip participants should arrange supplies ahead. Visitor accounts range from quiet riverbank views to busy raft and shuttle activity; arrivals can vary with river trips.

Where the river leaves the canyonThis is the point where the Colorado River comes out of Grand Canyon and enters Lake Mead.

This is the point where the Colorado River comes out of Grand Canyon and enters Lake Mead. Upstream, layered cliffs enclose the river; toward the reservoir, the banks open into lower, sandier margins. The change from canyon river to lake edge is the defining view. For a photo, keep the water and the cliff line together, with a little riverbank in the foreground to show the transition.

The ferry behind the nameThe Pearce family operated a ferry in this area beginning around 1876, long before the modern…

The Pearce family operated a ferry in this area beginning around 1876, long before the modern concrete takeout. The historic crossing and today's ramp are related parts of the same river corridor, though the old landing's exact footprint has not been pinned down.

Wildlife

Wildlife in Lake Mead

All Lake Mead wildlife maps

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 map

Sighting maps show where each species has been reported across Lake Mead. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.