Boulder City

Boulder City is located about 30 minutes from Las Vegas, midway between Las Vegas and the Lake Mead Recreation Area. Though it serves as a gateway to both “The Entertainment Capital of the World” and the abundance of scenic vistas and water sports of Lake Mead, Boulder City is primarily a quiet, family-oriented community.

Relaxed and tranquil as it may be, there are still many activities here to keep you busy—dining, shopping, antiquing, and golf, among others—plus some that will appeal to the especially adventurous. Outdoor recreation is an integral part of the landscape; Bootleg Canyon is known around the globe for its extreme mountain biking trails, and skydiving is an avid past time for many. For those on the less daring side, weekends here are often packed with city festivals such as the Spring Jamboree, Art In The Park, and the Boulder City Fine Arts Festival, which have sometimes attracted as many as 100,000 people. But if you’re looking to gamble, you may wish to take the short trip into Las Vegas—Boulder City is the only place in Nevada where gaming is against the law.

Unlike other American cities, this one got its start in a rather unusual manner—it was conceived and planned as a temporary city by the U.S. Government’s Bureau of Reclamation as part of the construction of Hoover Dam. But because timing of this mammoth project hit just after the onset of the Great Depression, many men searching for work found it an employment possibility worth moving for, especially at a time when some towns had an unemployment rate of 80%. Thousands descended upon the area with their families in tow, moving into what was then a very short-term and poorly constructed community (often three “houses” were put up in just one day, each consisting of plywood walls and a roof, no floor, and holes for windows). At the time, it was common for these temporary communities to be torn down when a project was complete. But when this “construction city” was scheduled to be razed, citizens elected to stay and create a more permanent home.

And today, after its somewhat uncertain beginnings, Boulder City is now a thriving, prosperous and very inviting community that’s 15,000 residents strong.