River Mountains Loop Trail

O’Callaghan – Tillman Bridge at Hoover Dam

New bridge near Hoover Dam

Bridge at Hoover Dam: Night lights.

This was sent to me by a friend. Truly a fantastic photo of the bridge construction.  The completed bridge has become just as big a tourist attraction as the dam, well almost.  The bridge has its own parking lot and viewpoint and provides photo ops of Hoover Dam never-before available to the average person until now.  One can access the Dam and Bridge taking the old Hoover Dam road to the visitor center….or if you want a hiking/biking adventure take the Historic Railroad Trail down to the Hoover Dam Parking garage at the visitor center.

Hike to Liberty Bell Arch

On January 17th, 2011 some good friends and I went on a hike to the Liberty Bell Arch on the Arizona side of the Colorado River below Hoover Dam.  The 2.5 mile hike route provided several views of the new O’Callaghan – Tillman Memorial Bridge located upstream about 3 – miles.

O’Callaghan – Tillman Memorial Bridge 3.5 miles downstream 11711

 The Bridge was also visible from the Liberty Bell Arch.  We could only get 1/2 the bridge into the photo due to the angle of the river and we would have to be flying out over the river to get the full bridge in view.

Liberty Bell Arch & Bridge in Back ground…3.5 miles north

This was my first crossing of the bridge since its opening in November 2010. Speed was 55 MPH and we just zipped across at 8:00 a.m. in the morning.  You can not see the Colorado River or Hoover Dam while driving across the dam, so do not try.  On the Nevada side of the river you have to take the Hoover Dam Access road(the old road) down to either the new visitor parking at the bridge to walk out on the bridge on the Hoover Dam side only; or drive on down to parking at the dam in order to get photos of the new bridge and visit the dam. There are no bike lanes on the bridge for riding across, but you can walk across on the walkway.

To ride a bike to the Hoover Dam or Bridge viewing one can access via the Historic Railroad Trail at Alan Bible Visitor Center located approximately 4.0 miles west of Hoover Dam.  This ride will provide great views of Lake Mead while passing through five large railroad tunnels on the way out to the dam. The trail is wide and the tread is native material with a very gentle grade until the very end. The last 1/4-mile drops down to an access point to the Hoover Dam visitor center where you can either walk the bike down a Switchback walkway or park and lock at the top.  The Bureau of Reclamation has not yet made a direct connection from the Historic Railroad Trail to the Bridge viewing area, so be careful crossing roads.

LIBERTY BELL ARCH TRAIL: Link to article by Deborah Wall in The View – http://www.viewnews.com/2011/VIEW-Jan-11-Tue-2011/CentennialHills/41270190.html   if you clip this article and follow it, you will find yourself at the Liberty Bell Arch on the Colorado River.