Las Vegas and/or Lake Mead

[RVMichael]

I'm looking for a camping spot near Las Vegas. Of course I'm perusing the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, but I'm just not sure which camping area.

We like state parks that have some TV stations, fairly good wireless (Verizon) connections, electricity (30 amps) is a must, water is very nice, sewage is nice to have but certainly not mandatory.

I've searched thru the website and googled really can't find any good write ups regarding the area.

Thanks for anybody's 2 cents...

[Lt Keefer]

Did you look on RV Parky?

[RVMichael]

Just AllStays. Problem is too many, lol. I just looking for place that best fits my needs.

[RVMichael]

Looks like these are the spots with hook ups...

1. Lake Mead RV Village -- Nice, but looks like traditional RV Park. Close to Hoover Dam and read it's 45 minutes to Las Vegas.

2. Callville Bay

3. Echo Bay -- Nice when lake was higher, but now looks like not used so much traditional RV Park

4. Temple Bar

5. Willow Beach

6. Cottonwood Cove

7. Katherine Landing

If anybody has any comments regarding any of the above sites, would appreciate it.

[RVMichael]

Looks like these are the spots with hook ups...

1. Lake Mead RV Village -- Nice, but looks like traditional RV Park. Close to Hoover Dam and read it's 45 minutes to Las Vegas.

2. Callville Bay -- Looks very empty and nice. Says Verizon has a nice signal here. Could be what we're looking for.

3. Echo Bay -- Nice when lake was higher, but now looks like not used so much traditional RV Park

4. Temple Bar -- Very nice when viewed from Google Maps. A review stated they had the generator on, so do they have electrical hookup?

5. Willow Beach -- New but has a rough road getting in. Looks like an RV Park pretty much.

6. Cottonwood Cove -- Close to the lake, but one review said it was "parking lot camping". It looks like a place to go if you are trailering a boat, but not so much otherwise. I'll bet it's crazy on the weekends.

7. Katherine Landing -- More of a boating mecca whereas the RV'ing is the "parking lot camping"

Based on the above, the Temple Bar looks like the place that will best fit our needs. Pretty sure they have electric hookup, but one of those things that must be verified.

[ducksface]

Temple bar is on the far side of the world.
I mean, the far side of the world. It's in Arizona, not Nevada.
A totally isolated spot on lake mead. It is closest to the west rim of the grand canyon if that's your destination.
The west rim has NOTHING to offer except that glass Skywalk and a stark landscape.

Callville is your best bet as far as proximity to Vegas and still be on the lake.
There is a nice little Indian museum and restored pit houses between Callville and Overton. It is a must if you have kids with even the slightest interest. It's a quick diversion.

We used to haunt Lake Mead.
The boat that takes divers to the b29 crash site? That's my now sold dive boat.



I didn't answer earlier because you needed to do some research on your own.
I would suggest a night of offroad camping near the lake to get it all out of your system, and then find a casino campground.

I'd tour the dam, stay at Callville, continue the drive loop up through Overton then to valley of fire, in the back way to Vegas, and call it done.

I used to know the name of every lizard and snake on that trail.
There's plenty to see if you're interested in ghost towns and Mines and mills, but not anything else.

If geologic interests are your thing and you have an eye for it, the whole valley is absolutely compounded with dinosaur bone fragments and pottery shards.


Katherine is on a completely different lake about 60 miles south.
There will be few boats this time of year.
Nice place, right across the river from Laughlin and a dozen casinos. Nothing else there. A short jaunt to the dam and lake mead... But it's on lake Mohave, not Lake mead.

Cottonwood is on lake Mohave as is Katherine. Nice campground, not another thing for 50 miles around. You'll be at a nice beach on a DAMN cold lake.

Willow Beach is also not on lake mead, but on the river just below the dam.
There's a hot spring you can walk to. Lots of Marijuana there if that's not your thing...and you're captive unless you just get up and leave the spring.

But, willow is a favorite place of ours to stop for lunch, you're stuck there with nothing to do. It's a drive to the bottom of a canyon, lunch, view up at the dam, then on to Vegas.


Echo is a long walk to the water and I'm not sure the Cafe is open.

I don't know the first one you mention. I think it's what locals call Las Vegas wash.
It's where the multimillion dollar houseboats anchor and has all niceties that can be offered at a marina. Callville is the next stop down the loop, then echo,then the Indian museum, then Overton, then valley of fire,then Vegas if you're done with the loop, or on to Moapa for some true human sadness, then Vegas.

Katherine and cottonwood are on a different lake and temple bar is only good for hiding out and being VERY far into an odd rural area. If I were city folk, I might be a little uncomfortable getting to temple bar.

[RVMichael]

Originally Posted by ducksface

Temple bar is on the far side of the world.
I mean, the far side of the world.
A totally isolated spot on lake mead.

That is actually the kind of spots we like...as long as it has hookups, lol. I will probably drop off my wife and her sister off at Las Vegas for a couple of nights and I'm an off the beaten path person.

However, thank your for the thoughtful responses. Being born and raised on the Gulf of Mexico Florida beaches, I look forward to exploring and meeting people around Lake Mead and it's totally different environs.

[RVMichael]

It says first come, first serve. I really like to reserve the most scenic, most convenient best RV sites in the place. The time we're planning on visiting is Tuesday, April 14th thru April 19th. Is this high season or will the place be fairly empty? Are there any strategies to getting there early like camping just outside and then booking early in the morning? Is this necessary? Remember I'm a product of Florida and was raised to basically hibernate during snow bird season, LOL.

[ducksface]

I have high doubts that there will be four rv's at temple bar that part of the year.
Even on summer weekends we were often there with less than 10 people in four or five vehicles.
It is far far removed from anything else to do with the lake. We used it to go up the Colorado and the part of the lake north of Overton. Upon reflection, I've never seen the park more than 15% full.

I would really like to see you do some research of the area. If you don't have a boat, you're captive in a parking lot with a view(that gets old quick) and not a single thing to do,and no where to go.

We live at the last vestige of civility outside the south rim gate of the grand canyon.
If you make it to the south rim pm me and I'll take 20 minutes of your time to show you some off the path things you'll never forget.

If you have a tow'd and you're truly interested in oddities, I know of many of them within two miles of i40 that haven't been visited by 1000 people I the last 100 years.

There are no 'people' around Lake mead. There isn't a private residence or hotel(unless they've slipped in a hotel recently) anywhere ON the lake. There are federal trailer parks where people have long term leases. There are no towns, no houses, no locals. Just marinas every 23 miles or so.

If you want to meet locals at a local lake, lake Havasu is your only choice. And even there, there are no residences on the lake except on California reservation land.

Except for a barmaid and a maintenance guy, I doubt you'll see anyone local at temple bar. Meadview is the nearest place with locals. There is no value to experiencing Meadview.

If you're truly interested in meeting people who live near a lake, take an extra day and go to slab city on the Salton sea. It's close enough to Vegas to put it on the list for the trip back home.
Salton sea is the world's largest oddity and a place few other modern traveller's can tell you've they've been to. It's so damn big it would have taken me 4 months of full time sidescan mowing to do it all. Lots of planes, a train, and most of a salt mining camp are down there. We spent a good bit of time over about four years.

The Sail Inn is possibly the only Cafe open on the entire lake.

There's a small community on lake Martinez and I think one on the California side of Cibola. No gas, possibly no fresh food. Cibola and Martinez are lakes even the locals don't know about. Both are big, like tens of miles long big.

[RVMichael]

Originally Posted by ducksface

I have high doubts that there will be four rv's at temple bar that part of the year.
Even on summer weekends we were often there with less than 10 people in four or five vehicles.
It is far far removed from anything else to do with the lake. We used it to go up the Colorado and the part of the lake north of Overton. Upon reflection, I've never seen the park more than 15% full.

I would really like to see you do some research of the area. If you don't have a boat, you're captive in a parking lot with a view(that gets old quick) and not a single thing to do,and no where to go.

We live at the last vestige of civility outside the south rim gate of the grand canyon.
If you make it to the south rim pm me and I'll take 20 minutes of your time to show you some off the path things you'll never forget.

If you have a tow'd and you're truly interested in oddities, I know of many of them within two miles of i40 that haven't been visited by 1000 people I the last 100 years.

There are no 'people' around Lake mead. There isn't a private residence or hotel(unless they've slipped in a hotel recently) anywhere ON the lake. There are federal trailer parks where people have long term leases. There are no towns, no houses, no locals. Just marinas every 23 miles or so.

If you want to meet locals at a local lake, lake Havasu is your only choice. And even there, there are no residences on the lake except on California reservation land.

Except for a barmaid and a maintenance guy, I doubt you'll see anyone local at temple bar. Meadview is the nearest place with locals. There is no value to experiencing Meadview.

If you're truly interested in meeting people who live near a lake, take an extra day and go to slab city on the Salton sea. It's close enough to Vegas to put it on the list for the trip back home.
Salton sea is the world's largest oddity and a place few other modern traveller's can tell you've they've been to. It's so damn big it would have taken me 4 months of full time sidescan mowing to do it all. Lots of planes, a train, and most of a salt mining camp are down there. We spent a good bit of time over about four years.

The Sail Inn is possibly the only Cafe open on the entire lake.

There's a small community on lake Martinez and I think one on the California side of Cibola. No gas, possibly no fresh food. Cibola and Martinez are lakes even the locals don't know about. Both are big, like tens of miles long big.

Thank you very much for the information. We do like solitude when we're out camping in the RV. I personally like to get out to nature alone and just soak in it's majesty. We will be full time this December starting from Florida. While I've been out west, it's always been airports, interstates, and hotels. I am looking forward to getting off the beaten path a little. We will be towing my BMW convertible on a flat bed trailer so we will not be stuck in one campsite. Additionally, we will have a Cricket OPDMD (looks like a miniature golf cart) for getting even closer to nature as we drive around in it also. I've been to the Grand Canyon south rim, so maybe we will take a drive out to the north rim. Anyway, we are so used to the southeast, just driving around in the southwest will be interesting to us as there's just not many desert's around here. There are plenty of springs, beaches, and even a few rain forests and tons of rivers though.

[Phil Saran]

Just be aware that if you are hauling a car trailer behind your MH, if your too
long you will be paying for 2 spaces since many campgrounds are short on space.