This scenic trail follows the old railroad bed that skirts the coastline of what is now Lake Mead for a few miles. As you can imagine, the trail is pretty flat but does afford some picturesque views of the lake and the distant Muddy Mountains on the far shore.
The railroad was built in 1931 to transport building materials and to serve as a supply line for the construction of the nearby Hoover Dam. The construction of the railroad required carving out five tunnels through the rock and building up levees in the valleys in between.
The tunnels were built unusually high and wide to accommodate the transportation of outsized pipe and construction equipment loads to the dam building site. Some of the tunnel entrances have timbered reinforcing to prevent fractured rocks from falling onto the track. However, the original timbers were destroyed by fire in 1990 and have since been replaced.
The railway was abandoned upon completion of the dam in 1935 but is well worth a visit for the history and scenery.
The railroad track skirts Lake Mead for a few miles
Vista of Lake Mead Marina with the Muddy Mountains on the far shore
The railroad construction required levees to be built up between the tunnels
Tunnels were built high and wide to accommodate large loads
Lake Mead with the bathtub ring clearly visible
Timber cladding at the tunnel entrance