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Hoover Dam

A June day trip from Las Vegas to Hoover Dam: the full sweep from the overlook, the bypass bridge over the Colorado River, and us dwarfed by the concrete.

Forty minutes southeast of the Strip, the desert suddenly organises itself into concrete. We drove out from Las Vegas in June 2013 to see Hoover Dam, and it is every bit as unreasonable in person.

Panorama of Hoover Dam spanning the gorge with the bypass bridge arching over the Colorado River downstream
The full sweep from the overlook: the dam, the gorge and the bypass bridge in one very wide frame.
Inga in sunglasses at a stone overlook wall high above Hoover Dam
The scale refuses to fit in a camera, so we put Inga in front of it. June 2013.
Selfie of Inga and Dileep with the curved concrete face of Hoover Dam behind them
Obligatory dam selfie. The Colorado River is a very long way down over that shoulder.
Dileep standing above the sweeping concrete face of Hoover Dam with the river far below
The curved face pours away below. Dileep is holding the wall, just in case.
Inga at a railing with the concrete arch of the bypass bridge spanning the Colorado River gorge behind
The bypass bridge, which took the highway traffic and left the dam to the tourists.

Then back to Las Vegas in time for the fountains. If you are Strip-bound with an afternoon spare, this is the detour.