Black Canyon Wilderness

The Black Canyon wilderness unit comprises a maze of peaks, side (slot) canyons, vertical cliffs, water chutes, hidden hot springs, and perennial waterfalls extending to the edge of the Colorado River.

The Black Canyon of the Colorado River is one of the last and untouched segments of the Colorado River in the American West, a beautiful region stretching from just south of Hoover Dam to Willow Beach, Arizona. The pristine western bank (Nevada-side) of the river remains completely road less and fell under indefinite protection in 2002. The entire wilderness area is located entirely within Lake Mead National Recreation Area (NRA) and managed as a Federally-protected Wilderness Area. Primary access can only be done by way of long hiking trails from the west and more comfortably by watercraft where visitors find hidden hot springs, beaches, and fern and moss-laden cliffs and waterfalls.

Access into the Black Canyon Wilderness means navigating very intimidating and confusing canyons, sometimes by way of rock rappelling into water chutes and long trails from the canyon's rim to the river below. Numerous put-ins for watercraft lay scattered throughout Black Canyon on both the Nevada and more accessible Arizona side.


 * Size: 17,220 acres
 * Location: Colorado River, Black Canyon, Clark County