Thursday, January 18, 2018

1/14 Willow Beach Marina Road Damage

This campground, 12 miles south of Hoover Dam on the Arizona side, is one of my favorites because it is so far away from everything.  You get here by driving northeast from Boulder City near Las Vegas and following the road past the dam. 



Then you head south on U.S. 93, past two "bridges to nowhere."  These are actually animal bridges and give large animals a safe way to cross the highway.  Mostly in this area, the large animals would be deer or bighorn sheep.  There are also coyotes and other smaller predators that use the bridges. 

There is a small sign pointing you to Willow Beach Marina, and I am happy to say that the old entrance booth has a new coat of paint and the signs warning you about the road being washed out have been removed.  And, there is a real person at the booth, which I have never seen in the five years I have been coming here!  Wow!

The road goes through a couple of miles of boring desert, but then drops into a shallow canyon.  Unfortunately, most of the water that falls in this area also goes through the canyon, as well.  And this area had the same amount of rain, 2.5", that we had last week at Valley of Fire.

You can see that the gravel and sand that came down with the flood waters has been mostly removed.  The ranger told me that this has been getting really expensive over the years, so they have received funding to build a new road into the marina and campground, but that will take at least two years.  




They had to remove sand and gravel from almost 3/4 of a mile of mostly paved road.  (It used to be entirely paved, but a few sections have been washed out.  Even the edges are getting more ragged over time.)


This sign is at the bottom of the canyon, looking backwards.

This is the marina at the bottom of the canyon.  The campground is to the right and up a moderate hill.    
It's hard to explain, but this photo was taken of the wash on the road that goes up to the campground.  You can see how much sand and gravel has been washed down.  Must have been an interesting place during the rain!

And the view from the top of the campground road, looking down to the Black Canyon of the Colorado River and the marina.
 

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