Even though a team of researchers from Jackpot City Casino, an online free-play social gambling site, has deemed Hoover Dam the fourth-most overrated tourist attraction in the country, 7 million people visit the 726-foot engineering marvel on the Colorado River at the Nevada–Arizona border each year.
Judgments and rankings were made based on the number of negative keywords found in TripAdvisor visitor reviews. Researchers said 6.84 percent of the reviews had negative words and phrases such as “overrated,” “overpriced,” “boring,” “avoid,” “disappointing,” “expensive,” “underwhelming,” “tourist trap,” and “stressful” in them.
The people at Hoover Dam probably shouldn’t be too worried about the ranking—the same researchers said the esteemed Smithsonian Museums in Washington were the nation’s most overrated attraction.
- The dam is open every day, except Thanksgiving and Christmas, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Guided dam tours ($30) and guided power plant tours ($15) are offered, with the last tour leaving at 3:45 p.m.
- Power plant tour tickets can be purchased online, and the tour is wheelchair and stroller accessible. The tour includes a walk through original construction tunnels and views of the eight commercial generators in the Nevada Powerhouse and from a viewing platform of a 30-foot-diameter penstock pipe. The dam tour can be purchased only onsite and forbids strollers and mobile scooters. The tour includes everything from the power plant tour along with a view of the Colorado River through an inspection ventilation shaft.
- Motorists can cross the dam but are cautioned to be wary of pedestrians. Arizona roads are not accessible from the dam. A parking garage on the Nevada side and surface parking for high-profile vehicles on the Arizona side cost $10. Upper lots on the Arizona side are free.
- Semitrucks are prohibited from the dam. Also not permitted: fireworks, explosives, weapons of any kind (including knives), marijuana, and flying drones.
- A security checkpoint is located about 1 mile from the dam. Motorists who refuse a vehicle search won’t be admitted.
- A free parking lot with access to the Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge with views of the dam is just past the security checkpoint. A paved path on a steep trail leads to the bridge. Pedestrians are cautioned that summer temperatures are high, wind is possible on the bridge, and there’s no water on the trail.
