Page 509 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - USA

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Colorado River filled the deep atlatl, a notched stick used
canyons, which once towered to add speed and distance to
above the river, to create Lake a thrown spear. Ancestral
Mead. This huge reservoir is the Puebloan people settled in the
largest man-made body of water nearby town of Overton along
in the US. Its 700-mile (1,130-km) Muddy River, around 300 BC.
shoreline is home to forests, They left some 1,500 years later,
canyons, and flower-rich perhaps because of a long
meadows. Dotted with beaches, drought. Archaeologists have
marinas, and campgrounds, the discovered hundreds of
reservoir area offers water prehistoric artifacts in the area,
sports such as sailing, water- many of which are housed in
skiing, swimming, and fishing. Overton’s Lost City Museum
Striped bass and rainbow trout of Archaeology, just outside
are popular catches. the town. Its large collection
includes pottery, beads,
The Hoover Dam as seen from above Y Valley of Fire State Park woven baskets, and delicate
29450 Valley of Fire Rd. @ Las Vegas. turquoise jewelry, which was
inexpensive electricity to Tel (702) 397-2088. & 7 partial. a local specialty.
Nevada, Arizona, and California.  ∑ parks.nv.gov/vf.htm
This colossus of concrete is Lost City Museum of Archaeology: T Red Rock Canyon
today a huge tourist attraction. 721 S Moapa Valley Blvd, Overton. @ Las Vegas. Tel (702) 515-5350.
Guided tours take visitors into Tel (702) 397-2193. Open 8:30am– Open 8am–4:30pm daily.
the depths of the dam; the top 4:30pm daily. Closed Jan 1, Thanksg., Closed public hols. & 7 limited.
Dec 25. & 7
of the visitor center offers  ∑ nv.blm.gov/redrockcanyon/
superb views. This spectacularly From downtown Las Vegas it is
Just 8 miles (13 km) scenic state park is in a a short, 10-mile (16-km) drive
west, Boulder City was remote desert location west to the low hills and steep
built to house the dam’s some 60 miles (97 km) gullies of the Red Rock Canyon
construction workers. It is Hoover Dam sign northeast of Las Vegas. National Conservation Area.
one of Nevada’s most It derives its name from Here, baked by the summer
attractive well-ordered towns. the red sandstone formations sun, a gnarled escarpment
Several 1930s buildings remain, that began as huge, shifting rises out of the desert, its gray
such as the histric Boulder Dam sand dunes about 150 million limestone and red sandstone
Hotel, housing the Hoover years ago. The extreme summer the geological residue of an
Dam Museum. temperatures mean that spring ancient ocean and the huge
or fall are the best times to sand dunes that succeeded it.
} Lake Mead National explore the wilderness. Of the The canyon is easily explored
Recreation Area four well-maintained trails, the on a 13-mile- (21-km-) long
@ Las Vegas. Tel (702) 293-8906/ Petroglyph Canyon Trail is an scenic road that loops off
8990. Park: Open 24 hrs. Visitor easy half-mile (0.8 km) loop, Hwy 159 providing a good
Center: Open 9am–4:30pm daily. which takes in several fine overview and great picnic
Closed Jan 1, Thanksgiving, Dec 25. prehistoric Ancestral Puebloan spots, but the best way to
& 7 limited.  ∑ nps.gov/lame rock carvings. One of the most explore these steep winding
After the completion of Hoover famous depicts an canyons is on foot. Watch for
Dam, the waters of the the bighorn sheep
and desert tortoises
when hiking.

Extraordinary rock formations in the Valley of Fire State Park

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