Trip Idea

Hikes Around Lake Mead

Multiple Parks

Slot canyon
Towering walls twist and turn on Owl Canyon Trail.

NPS/A. Cattoir

Hikes Around Lake Mead
  • Lake Mead National Recreation Area

    Bluffs Trail

    • Activity Fee: Yes
    • Reservations: No
    • Activity: Front-Country Hiking
    • Pets: Yes
    • Duration: 1–4 Hours
    • Season: Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall
    A trail winds above on a high vista overlooking a small stream.

    Bluffs Trail overlooks the Las Vegas Bay and Las Vegas Wash, where visitors can see a stark contrast in vegetation between wet and dry areas.

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  • Lake Mead National Recreation Area

    Historic Railroad Tunnel Trail

    • Activity Fee: Yes
    • Reservations: No
    • Activity: Front-Country Hiking
    • Pets: Yes
    • Duration: 1–4 Hours
    • Season: Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall
    A tunnel constructed of wood beams looking out down a trail towards another tunnel.

    The Historic Railroad Tunnel Trail features incredible vistas of Lake Mead and Boulder Basin and five tunnels – each approximately 25 feet wide.

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  • Lake Mead National Recreation Area

    Northshore Summit Trail

    • Activity Fee: Yes
    • Reservations: No
    • Activity: Front-Country Hiking
    • Pets: Yes
    • Duration: 1–4 Hours
    • Season: Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall
    A cloudy sky over a mountainous landscape.

    A perfect place to take in the desert in all its vastness and striking colors.

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  • Lake Mead National Recreation Area

    Owl Canyon Trail

    • Activity Fee: Yes
    • Reservations: No
    • Activity: Front-Country Hiking
    • Pets: Yes
    • Duration: 1–3 Hours
    • Season: Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall
    A trail cuts through a winding canyon.

    Owl Canyon Trail narrows and deepens into a slot canyon with 100-foot vertical walls in the most confined section.

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  • Lake Mead National Recreation Area

    Redstone Trail

    • Activity Fee: Yes
    • Reservations: No
    • Activity: Front-Country Hiking
    • Pets: Yes
    • Duration: 1–4 Hours
    • Season: Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall
    Looking out of a cave in a rock formation out into a desert landscape.

    The fiery eroded formations on this trail were once part of a vast desert landscape.

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  • Lake Mead National Recreation Area

    River Mountains Loop Trail

    • Activity Fee: Yes
    • Reservations: No
    • Activity: Front-Country Hiking
    • Pets: Yes
    • Duration: 4–8 Hours
    • Season: Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall
    A path cuts through a desert landscape with mountains in the backround.

    The River Mountains Loop Trail is a non-motorized, paved trail provides visitors with an extensive trail loop offering scenic views, plentiful wildlife, and the vast beauty only the Mojave Desert can offer.   

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  • Lake Mead National Recreation Area

    St. Thomas Trail

    • Activity Fee: Yes
    • Reservations: No
    • Activity: Front-Country Hiking
    • Pets: Yes
    • Duration: 1–4 Hours
    • Season: Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall
    Old historic buildings left in a desert landscape.

    Today, remnants of the town are now visible thanks to the lowering water levels of Lake Mead.

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  • Lake Mead National Recreation Area

    Wetlands Trail

    • Activity Fee: Yes
    • Reservations: No
    • Activity: Front-Country Hiking
    • Pets: Yes
    • Duration: 1–4 Hours
    • Season: Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall
    A river with bluffs in the background.

    The Wetlands Trail follows a dry dirt trail down to the flowing Las Vegas Wash, where water from the Las Vegas Valley dispenses into Lake Mead and shapes the landscape through erosion.

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Last updated: December 19, 2023