Hoover Dam Tours
Expect anything but the ordinary during your visit to Hoover Dam. Take a tour and go behind the scenes of this marvel of modern engineering to explore rarely seen areas and discover how the dam was carved out of the Colorado River’s Black Canyon in the 1930s.
Hoover Dam Visitor Center
Conveniently located right next to the parking garage, Hoover Dam Visitor Center is your first stop. Here, you’ll purchase tour tickets, explore informative exhibits (including the dam’s massive, hydroelectric power-producing turbines) and learn about the construction process, materials, and key historical figures.
Admission to the visitor center is $10 if you don’t plan on taking any dam tours. The center is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., except Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. If you’re driving in for a tour, allow extra time to clear the security checkpoint, which is mandatory for all vehicles. Parking is $10 per vehicle.
Travel Nevada Pro Tip
Make sure you have a confirmed transportation plan for getting to and from Hoover Dam. Rideshare and taxi companies may be willing to drop you off at the landmark, but it’s much harder to secure a ride back to Las Vegas or Boulder City without prior arrangement.
Guided Hoover Dam Tours
Hoover Dam offers two options for tours. Walk through original construction tunnels and take in massive generators on the 30-minute Guided Power Plant Tour. For an hour-long excursion, opt for the Guided Dam Tour, which includes the power plant sights plus riding to the top of Hoover Dam in an original elevator and seeing the Colorado River through a ventilation shaft.
Tickets for the Guided Dam Tour are $30 and can only be purchased on site. Guided Power Plant Tour tickets are $15 and bookable online.
If you’re short on time, skip the Hoover Dam tour and walk across the top of the dam for free. You’ll enjoy sweeping vistas along with vertigo-inducing views of the Colorado River and Lake Mead.
Tours Inside Hoover Dam
Each tour at the Hoover Dam Visitor Center includes a behind-the-curtain peek at the inner workings of Hoover Dam, its powerful hydroelectric power operations, and the rich history of its construction. Tours are limited to groups of 20 to ensure everyone has an opportunity to learn and ask questions about Hoover Dam.
Helicopter Tours of Hoover Dam
Wild things roam in the heart of Nevada. Why not join them on a breathtaking helicopter tour over Hoover Dam and the Colorado River? Tour operators like Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters offer uncommonly beautiful photo ops (and totally new points of view).
Hoover Dam Tours From Las Vegas
Hoover Dam is just a 35-minute drive from Las Vegas. If you don’t have access to a vehicle, hop aboard one of the numerous bus tours offering trips from Las Vegas to Hoover Dam that will pick you up on The Strip and take you for a day of sightseeing. You’ll experience Hoover Dam and Boulder City before returning to Las Vegas in time for dinner. On your journey, you’ll cross the Mike O’Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge (aka the bypass bridge) and rest at perfect photo spots along the Colorado River.
If you have your own transportation, turn the drive from Las Vegas to Hoover Dam into a day trip. There’s plenty to see and do at the dam site, but nearby Boulder City and Lake Mead National Recreation Area will equally wow you.
Hours:
Hoover Dam is open to the public daily from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Hoover Dam Visitor Center is also open daily (except Thanksgiving and Christmas) from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and doors close at 4:15 p.m.
The parking garage at Hoover Dam is open daily from 8 a.m. to 5:15 p.m.
Admission:
Tickets for the Guided Dam Tour are $30, while tickets for the Guided Power Plant Tour are $15.
Hoover Dam garage parking costs $10 per vehicle.
This Location:
City
Boulder CityRegion
Southern Nevada
