Historic Railroad Trail

NEVADA

Twenty years I’ve lived here in southern Nevada and not once had I ever heard of Railroad Pass. Even funnier, there’s a casino on your way into Vegas called the “Railroad Pass” and I’ve most definitely driven past it at least 100 times and STILL had no idea this trail was here. It wasn’t until the other day that I was laying in bed at 3am going down the deep rabbit hole that is Pinterest when I found another Vegas blogger who’d gone here, and I just fell in love with the pictures. So much so that I had to see it for myself. So for my birthday I grabbed the dog and decided to head out into the desert on a nine mile hike, just to see if I still hated hiking.

The History of Railroad Pass

It all started in 1931 with the Hoover Dam. In order to build such a large structure, a railroad needed to be built to haul all of the materials nearly 30 miles from Las Vegas into Boulder City. Trains ran 24 hours a day delivering supplies including nine million tons of sand & gravel and six million cubic yards of concrete, which is still curing 70 years later.

The tracks were eventually dismantled in 1962 and all that remains of this immense undertaking are five tunnels(25 feet wide, 30 high and 300 feet long) and four miles of graded dirt trail.

Before You Go

This is where I usually tell you all about the perils involved in whatever off the map thing it is I’ve cooked up. Well, not today. This was by far the easiest walk/hike I’ve ever done. I made little to no preparations except marking the site on Google Maps and grabbing a coffee from Dunkin’. What I will tell you is that Nevada is hot A LOT of the year, so do not attempt to do this anytime between May and October. People laugh but desert heat isn’t a joke and people die on hikes here more often than you’d like to think so stick to the obvious. Don’t go when it’s hot. Bring water. Don’t go off trail.

Getting There

If you’re heading from Vegas, this is a straight shot down Hwy 95 into Boulder City, roughly 30 miles. You’ll take a left at Lakeshore Drive toward Lake Mead Recreational. Pay attention for the Visitor’s Center on the right. You can park there but there is also a loop about 100 yards down the road that takes you to the trail head. If you miss the parking lot, you’ll be going through the Lake Mead entrance and that one costs moolah as it’s a fee area. It gets pretty tight in this tiny lot because this is a popular trail so either arrive early or tool around for 20 minutes waiting for someone to leave like I did. There are legitimate bathrooms there so use them before you leave because these are the only ones until the end of the trail.

Historic Railroad Trail

The only incline you’ll experience is at the beginning from the parking lot to the gate, but it is very slight. These gates close at night so be sure to give yourself enough time to get back.

This stretch of the hike is kind of boring. There is an informational placard on the left before you take the turn around the mountain. Things start to get a little more interesting with the ruddiness of the mountains and old trailings from abandoned mines. Still more walking.

The first really interesting thing that you’ll come across is the pathway through the hill that was clearly blasted out and just beyond that to your right down in the ravine you’ll find a mess of concrete plug remnants left over from building Hoover Dam.

Once you get around the corner, you’ll have finally reached the tunnels. The first two are relatively close to one another, as you can see in the photos. The first tunnel is free standing at the first mouth but you’ll notice additional bracing as you exit due to vandalism and arson.

Tunnel three is so damaged that there is a fence and makeshift corridor to walk through to protect what’s left of the original opening.

Before you get to tunnel four, notice the unmarked path around the mountain. It’ll take you out to a small lookout and a great vantage point for photographing tunnels three and five.

Tunnel five is technically the end of this trail where you’ll finally find a bathroom. Above the tunnel is a car park and lookout point for Hoover Dam and Lake Mead. There is also some discarded materials from the building project if you feel inclined to check those out, old machinery and whatnot.

At this point you can choose to turn around and back track to your car or go on another few miles all the way to Hoover Dam, which we did not because the princess was tired, which resulted in me trucking her on my chest all the way back to the truck.

The sun was getting pretty low in the sky and there was some cloud cover so the trip back was even prettier, sans the 11lbs cow I was carrying.

And then, of course, the best view of all 🧡

With taking a few breaks, a wildly slow walking dog, and plenty of picture taking, this trail only took about 2.5 hours to complete. We definitely could have done a little more exploring if not for pup so be sure to give yourself ample time, 3-4 hours recommended. And remember, both the front and back gates close at sunset so make sure you’re back in time before you’re scaling a government fence!