Boulder City

Even with Las Vegas just up the road, Boulder City is something of a Mojave Desert culinary hot spot. Here are some standouts not to miss: 

• Southwest Diner: Dig into homemade specials for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, including Mexican dishes and pies made from scratch.
• Coffee Cup Café: Guy Fieri certified these flavors on “Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives,” and you’ll equally enjoy the omelets, burritos, and sandwiches—plus their famous Bloody Mary if you’re old enough.
• Fox Smokehouse BBQ: Helmed by a competition barbeque team with plenty of trophies to their name, Fox Smokehouse “will do whatever it takes to make you fat and happy.”
• Chilly Jilly’z Bakery & Café: Fill up on Broaster chicken, loaded hot dogs, and plenty of ice cream treats: The Dole Whip float is wildly refreshing.
• The Dillinger: Named after infamous bank robber John Dillinger, this restaurant is known for gourmet burgers piled high with toppings like pastrami, baked brie, and peanut butter.

Boulder City hotels range from delightfully retro (neon and all) to scenic and historic. In addition to mainstays like Best Western and Holiday Inn, consider these personality-packed places to stay:

• Boulder Dam Hotel: Built in 1933 and still full of colonial-style splendor, this boutique hotel has endless stories to tell—including within the on-site Boulder City/Hoover Dam Museum, which details the stories of the men and women who brought the landmark and community to life.
• El Rancho Boulder Motel: Enjoy a comfortable stay and an original neon sign you won’t be able to miss.
• Hoover Dam Lodge Hotel & Casino: Soak in mountain and lake views from rooms with all the modern comforts, then get out into the scenery with adjacent access to the Historic Railroad Trail.
• Lake Mead RV Village: Park your home away from home here for easy access to Lake Mead National Recreation Area.

In late 1928, President Coolidge signed an act to build a dam to tame the Colorado River. Hoover Dam—initially called Boulder Dam—was to be one of the largest infrastructure projects in U.S. history, and it needed workers.

During the Great Depression, tens of thousands of unemployed men migrated to the scorching heat of the southern Nevada desert and set up a ramshackle camp called Ragtown. 

The federal government knew that a disorganized and unsupplied tent town was not the best way to complete the project: More than 3,500 workers would be needed at the dam every day. So, they announced they’d build and fund a brand-new community from scratch.

From its inception, every detail of Boulder City—from its city grid to its recreation activities—was planned and scrutinized. It became a model 20th-century community. 

Today, the Boulder City Historic District feels like a time capsule packed with historic residences, retro motels, and plentiful Art Deco architecture.