San Francisco to Denver

[Mark Sedenquist]

Craig,

Went to the Hoover Dam yesterday. The Power Center Tour is not as interesting as the main tour, but it's still OK.


Rotor being repaired on the Nevada side generators.


View of the Colorado River from the dam.


Dust and rain storm in Red Rock Canyon.

Mark

[UKCraig]

Thanks Mark. I think we will definitely aim to upgrade our tickets when we arrive if we can as it seems silly to go all that way and not do something memorable. It still grates that I went all those years ago and didn't do anything other than drive over the dam, get out, have a quick look and then go again. Oh, the guy I was with did throw his (no longer needed) wedding ring in to the water but I think the tour would have been a far better use of our time!

[Mark Sedenquist]

Main differences -- although having not been on the main tour in a couple of years I don't know how up-to-date my info is.

The power site tour uses elevators installed in the late 1990's to access the Nevada side Generator Room. And the access is through solid rock that that hacked through to get to one of the penstock pipes and bypass pipes.

The full tour uses elevators actually in the dam and accesses different parts within the dam itself to then access the generators on the Arizona side-- I believe they go all the way to the bottom still.

The full hard-hat tour is no longer offered (post 9-11) and it was really something! I think that is the one you could have done. I have done it several times. One used to be able crawl through a narrow passage to actually look out the dam.

The most amazing thing to me--still is how nice and "upmarket" the finishing is inside the dam. The Bureau of Reclamation has offices inside the dam that rival any office in any big city.

Walking across the bridge still provides the best view of the dam and that is worth doing no matter what you decided to do about the tours.

Here is that view of David Gomm again (from the bridge):

Mark

[Mark Sedenquist]

And I see that the main tour still includes access to the ventilation shaft.

But it's possible that no one is being allowed to go through the dam to the Arizona side anymore. That might have been only for the hard hat tour. -- I did some more research and it looks like access to those lower tunnels is no longer available to the general public. The access to the river level at the Arizona side is no longer offered. (That was all pre-911)

So, on that basis, I am not sure that the main tour is sufficiently interesting. The main benefit of the less expensive tour is to access the visitor center and see that view. The entire area is under reconstruction right now and it's hard to tell if access to the visitor center will remain only to ticketed visitors.

[UKCraig]

Thank you for the input, Mark, I will try and report back on what we discover when we get there however, if anyone else has been on the big tour recently, perhaps they might like to advise if they felt it worth the upgrade. Thanks all!

[Mark Sedenquist]

Craig,

I have thought about it some more. I don't think the power station tour is worth the price.

What I recommend is:

a) driving across the dam and parking and looking down the dam face and at the bridge
b) if the visitor center is open (without a ticket) the views are great
c) walking across the bridge for a view of the dam and canyon

But if the only tour that is available is the power plant -- it's not really a dam tour. And I am no longer recommending it to anyone.

Mark

[Mark Sedenquist]

Craig,

I was back at the Hoover Dam again yesterday, and I captured the following photo to illustrate what I was referring to in the post above:



See the black line near the lighter cylinder at the top of the dam?

The cylinder is the elevator that was built in the late 1990's to take visitors from the visitor center down to the Nevada Power Plant. It is basically a straight shot through sold rock and then visitors walk to a view platform to see the Nevada Power Plant and then back up the elevator. One never actually gets into the Hoover Dam on this tour.

The main tour goes down the historic elevator in the dam -- which is a lot more interesting and then over to the Nevada Powerplant.

So, to recap.

I don't think the "Power Plant Tour" is a good use of time on limited day for seeing stuff. If you could get the fuller tour, it would be worth it.

But you can see alot by doing the free stuff -- driving over the dam. Parking and seeing it from the Arizona side. Then driving back to the bridge viewing lot and then walking along the bridge from the Nevada side to the Arizona side. I captured the view of the dam (above) from the bridge walkway.

--> And you don't have to pre-purchase the Power Plant tour -- hoping for an upgrade. Just wait until you get there. If the main tour is available, you can purchase when you go through security. I wouldn't pre-pay the Power Plant Tour hoping for an upgrade--they are either available or they are not!

Mark