• Sunset at Lake Mead's Boulder Basin

    Lake Mead

    National Recreation Area AZ,NV

Black Canyon Restrictions

Motorized Vessel Use - Willow Beach to Hoover Dam

To allow for a wide variety of recreational opportunities the following rules are in effect:

Year-round (Sunday and Monday)
The canyon from Willow Beach to Hoover Dam (Black Canyon) will be managed as a primitive zone where people can experience a variety of motor-less recreational opportunities in a natural setting. Personal watercrafts (PWCs) and vessels with motors are prohibited on Sunday and Monday year round.

Between Labor Day and Friday of Memorial Day weekend (Tuesday - Saturday)
The canyon from Willow Beach to Hoover Dam (Black Canyon) will be managed as a semi-primitive zone. PWCs remain prohibited. Boating is restricted to vessels with 65-horsepower engines or less.

Between the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day (Tuesday - Saturday)
The canyon from Willow Beach to Hoover Dam (Black Canyon) will be managed as a rural-natural zone. During the busy boating season there are no horsepower restrictions and PWCs are allowed.

Houseboating, water-skiing, and wakeboarding remain prohibited for safety reasons because of the narrow canyon environment.

Did You Know?

Golden Strike Canyon in the Black Canyon Wilderness

"Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons and daughters of the earth. We did not weave the web-of-life. We are merely a strand in it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves." -- Chief Seattle