27 Magnificent Lake Mead Facts

By James Israelsen, Associate Writer

Published January 10, 2025

Every year, over 6 million people visit Lake Mead and its surrounding national park._[1]
Archaeologists have found evidence of prehistoric peoples living near Lake Mead as early as 3000 BCE._[1][5]
Hoover Dam, responsible for the creation of Lake Mead, was completed in 1936 and took five years to build. It is the largest dam in the United States._[2]
Lake Mead was created to maintain a regular water supply for the seven states through which the Colorado River runs: Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, California, and Nevada._[1]
Lake Mead National Recreation Area covers over 1.4 million acres of land, making it larger than the state of Delaware._[2]
Due to an immediate surge in tourism as soon as Lake Mead was created, the National Park Service assumed responsibility for managing the area._[1][2]
Lake Mead is only 25 miles away from Las Vegas, Nevada._[5]
It wasn't until the early 2000s that the National Park Service began charging for admission to Lake Mead._[2]
The first settlers to build towns in the Lake Mead area were LDS (Mormon) pioneers, sent by leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, in the mid-1800s._[1]

This is a giant aurochs, a likely ancestor of modern-day cattle

In the Pleistocene epoch, Lake Mead was home to several species of megafauna, including giant ground sloths, giant camels, giant horses, and mammoths._[1]
Lake Mead is the largest human-made lake in the United States, by volume; though Lake Powell covers more surface area._[2][3]
When it was first created, Lake Mead was the largest human-made reservoir in the world._[2]
Lake Mead is 115 miles long, stretching from north to south._[2]
Lake Mead is located in the Mojave Desert's Black Canyon and covers four distinct basins and four narrow canyons that were submerged when Hoover Dam was installed._[3]
When it is completely full, the surface of Lake Mead is over 1,200 miles above sea level._[2]
Lake Mead was named for Elwood Mead, the head of the U.S. water reclamation department at the time Hoover Dam was built._[5]
Residents in many of the towns originally established in the Lake Mead area were forced to relocate once plans for Hoover Dam were announced, as their towns would be submerged by Lake Mead._[1]

Location, location, location

Lake Mead provides water to the Mojave Desert region of the United States, the record-holder for the second-hottest temperature ever recorded._[2]
Although it is 115 miles long, Lake Mead's width only varies between one and ten miles._[5]
Twenty-five million Americans get their drinking water from Lake Mead._[5]
Lake Mead's water levels have been dropping since 1999 due to population increase and ongoing drought in the region._[5]
In 2022, the water level of Lake Mead reached a historic low._[5]
Lake Mead is so voluminous that it has the capacity to store two years' worth of the Colorado River's annual average flow._[3]
If Lake Mead's current water level decline continues at the same rate, it will hit deadpool in a few years. At that point, Hoover Dam will no longer be able to operate, depriving thousands of residents of electricity._[6]
Given current environmental conditions, government officials predict that by the end of 2023, Lake Mead will only be 21% full._[6]
The razorback sucker is the only species of fish that is native to Lake Mead, although the lake has been regularly stocked with non-native species._[3]
Heavy snowfall during the winter of 2022-23 caused a rise of nearly ten feet in Lake Mead._[4]