Willow Beach

Willow Beach is a developed Colorado River day-use area and marina in Black Canyon, on the Arizona side of Lake Mead National Recreation Area. It brings together a launch ramp, small beaches and coves, a fishing pier, picnic facilities, watercraft rentals, a store, a grill and a campground. Come for a river day or to get onto the Black Canyon Water Trail, a roughly 30-mile stretch of Colorado River; this is a major launch point. There are no hiking trails at Willow Beach itself.

Willow Beach sits about 14 miles south of Hoover Dam, reached from U.S. 93 by Willow Beach Road. You can launch or take out here; launching at Hoover Dam requires a permit. Parking can fill on busy weekends, so an early start helps if you need a spot near the ramp.

Emerald Cave is about two river miles upstream. It's a small opening in the canyon wall, and afternoon light can make the water inside glow green. You have to reach it from the river, not by walking from the beach. For the classic view, back your boat into the opening; the cave and its green-lit water make the standout photo stop.

The shoreline alternates between sandy beach and smooth, rocky coves beneath steep canyon walls. You can fish from shore or from the accessible pier, or settle at a picnic table and grill. A bottle-filling station and public restrooms are also here, so the beach works for a longer day even if you aren't launching a boat.

The marina rents kayaks, canoes, pontoon boats and fishing skiffs, and has a convenience store and the Black Canyon Grill. Its menu includes burgers and burritos, useful after time on the water. Grill hours change with the season, so have a backup if a meal is central to your plan.

Look up the cliffs while paddling: desert bighorn sheep are often seen along this stretch of river. The water trail also passes historic structures tied to Hoover Dam construction. In 2014 the Black Canyon river section became the first National Water Trail in the Southwest and the first through a desert.

Artifacts suggest Willow Beach may have been a prehistoric trading place. Basketmaker people from Lost City camped here around 250 B.C.; much later it became a well-known Colorado River fishing camp. After Davis Dam created Lake Mohave, a marina and other visitor amenities were added in 1954.

The campground is another part of the Willow Beach complex, with 28 full-service RV sites and nine tent sites. Sites have fire rings and picnic tables; showers and laundry are for campers, not day visitors.