Meadview

Canyon Overlook - Skywalk: You just have to come and see the "Skywalk" (The Canyon Overlook) on the Hualapa Indian Reservation. It is now open to the public. To see a preview, Click here:

Where are we? Meadview is located in northwest Arizona at the point where the Grand Canyon ends and Lake Mead begins. At 3500 feet elevation Meadview enjoys summers a little cooler than the low lying deserts and winters a little warmer than the mountain areas.

From Las Vegas, Nevada: Go east on Highway 93 across the bridge at Hoover Dam, continue to milepost 42 and turn left (north) on Pierce Ferry Road for approximately 40 miles to Meadview, Arizona.

From Kingman, Arizona: go west on highway 93 and turn right (north) at mile post 42 on to Pierce Ferry Road and drive approximately 40 miles to Meadview. It is about 60 miles from downtown Kingman. Pierce Ferry Road: is county highway 25 and is paved the entire length. Watch out for cows, deer, wild horses, (and for the sheriff) on the road!

Services Available: Most of the services that you might require are available in Meadview:

and

motels, gasoline, diesel, propane, groceries, post office, hardware store, religious services, some auto repair, restaurants, ATM, etc.

A little background information on the Lake Mead Recreation Area and the Grapevine Mesa:

Boating on Lake Mead is at its best at this end of the lake. Crystal clear water, fantastic scenery, miles of open water and clean beaches. Peace and solitude are yours for the asking - and the

is great!

Lake Mead National Recreation Area has over 3000 square miles of environmentally protected riparian scenery (according to the 1998 "Information Please" Almanac, Lake Mead is the largest National Recreational Area in the United States with an acreage of almost 1½ million acres).

Beginning at the east border are the Grand Wash cliffs which rise to 6000 feet. The cliffs are the gateway for the Colorado River as it leaves the Grand Canyon and becomes Lake Mead. The lake is 115 miles long, terminating at Hoover Dam - the tallest dam in the Western Hemisphere. The dam rises 726.4 feet from bedrock to the paved road across this mile long concrete marvel.

Lake Mead is America's largest man made lake covering 229 square miles with a storage capacity of 30 million-acre feet of water. The 500 miles of shoreline changes dramatically from one area to the next with steep cliffs, deep coves, sandy beaches and always a vast panorama of photographic opportunities. The eastern end of the lake is fabled for its fishing. Fish to be caught include striped bass which can reach monster sizes up to 60 pounds, large mouth bass, smallmouth bass, catfish, bluegill and once in awhile, a trout.

In the coves or on the cliffs that line the lake, you could see the majestic desert bighorn sheep. The rams are sturdy animals carrying massive curved horns and boasting large harems of ewes with their young. The wild burros, descendants of those left behind by discouraged prospectors, drink at the water's edge, as do cougars, bobcats and coyotes. Few nights pass without a serenade from a family of coyotes. Badgers, cottontails, and the wily black-eared jackrabbit, and even deer can be found within the park boundaries. Antelope are quite rare, but are seen occasionally. Gila Monsters are sometimes seen as well.

Lepus Californicus Gray (Black-Eared Jackrabbit) Wild Horses on the Mesa Heloderma Suspectum (Gila Monster)

Gambel's quail thrive in our area, sometimes numbering the hundreds as they search for seeds under the brush. In season, bird watchers can find over 250 species of birds ranging from 5 kinds of humming birds to the osprey, golden eagle, and even the bald eagle. There are 60 species of waterfowl including ducks, herons, brown pelicans, geese, coots, terns, and the small swan like billed grebe. Songbirds, owls, hawks, ravens and the turkey vulture are constant visitors to the area.

At Grapevine Springs you will find beds of the scarlet monkeyflower. The yellow wild columbine trails over the cliffs at Columbine Falls. Throughout the rest of the area you will find desert plants that survive our dry climate with only 6 inches of yearly moisture. This falls as rain during July and August, and again in February, but we have had snowfalls of 2 to 5 inches during the winter months on rare occasions. For Lake Mead National Recreation Area information click here:

On the Grapevine Mesa the chaparral includes creosote bush, rabbit bush, cat claw, Joshua, yucca and large cholla, plus many flowering cactus. The extensive Joshua forest that you drive through from highway 93 to Meadview is the largest of its kind in the United States and boasts some magnificent specimens of this unusual tree. For more information on the peculiarities of the Joshua Trees click on:

In the dry washes of the mesa you can spend many hours digging for gold - and you can find it! A 12-ounce nugget was found by a weekend gold seeker a few years ago and dozens of others have found smaller nuggets and flakes.

The hiking and 4x4 trails are numerous and selection of difficulty is wide. You can visit the awesome beauty of the Grand Canyon on the Hualapai Indian Reservation and marvel at the Colorado River, far below, still carving the canyon ever deeper even as you watch.

A very short history of the area

The Grapevine Wash has long been well traveled and is known as the Ute trail from the Colorado River south to Hopi and across into California. In more recent history the Mormons used this trail to trek their trade wagons to the Hopi and Navajo villages.

In the 1820's Jedidiah Smith crossed the Virgin River, (Virgis River as it was known then) and then across the Colorado to reach the California territory. In 1869 John Wesley Powell (1834-1902, geologist, explorer, and one-armed civil war veteran) led his band of explorers through the Grand Canyon past Pearce Ferry and South Cove and they ended their river trip where the Virgin enters the Colorado.

Boulder Dam was started in 1931 and finished in 1935. Over 90 men died during its construction. In 1953 the dam was renamed for Herbert Hoover who was president when it was originally conceived. Henry J. Kaiser, a ship builder, was the contractor on the dam. The lake was named for Elwood Mead, commissioner for Reclamation in the early 1930s