Hoover Dam is one of the best things about having a family vacation in Las Vegas. Yes, a Las Vegas vacation can still be interesting and educational. The girls, even the little girls, loved the Hoover Dam tour. Even though it was 113 degrees, they sweated through and enjoyed the views anyway. They even found the video about how the dam was made interesting. It is afterall, one of the greatest engineering wonder in the world.One of the trivia they found most interesting is the timeline that divides the dam; the line dividing Arizona and Nevada goes right through the middle of the dam and they have it marked. Great photo op to have one foot in one state and the other in another state :). Time also changes. There is a one hour difference from one side of the line to the other. If you’re going east, you will gain an hour.
There is now a very nice, air-conditioned visitor center as opposed to when I last visited years ago. You can still take a tour of the dam. There is a fee for the tour, but it is worth it. I think it was $10 per person when we went. You go down to the depths of the dam, see the turbines that convert the power of the river to electricity, and you get to see the rock walls damp with water dripping down its sides. The structure is just awesome and well worth the side trip from Las Vegas.
