Hoover Dam closed to visitors; Lake Mead announces changes

Hoover Dam is closed to all visitors, the Bureau of Reclamation announced Tuesday evening.

At the Hoover Dam, the visitor center and all area tours were canceled, but employees working in water delivery and operations at the power plant will continue, the bureau said. The move came after officials struggled to implement social distancing among tourists to the dam, according to the announcement.

The announcement came within minutes of Lake Mead National Recreation Area officials announcing some changes to operations in the face of the coronavirus.

While the park itself will remain open, Lake Mead officials announced the following operations were closed as of Tuesday: the visitor center, the lobby in the park’s headquarters and all fee collections at the park’s entrance.

Those sites and operations are closed until further notice, the news release states. These closures came in response to state and federal recommendations on how to slow the spread of the coronavirus, according to the release.

People will need to check with commercial entities within the recreation area — such as RV parks and marinas — to find out whether they will remain open as well, the release said.

Contact Dalton LaFerney at dlaferney@reviewjournal.com or at 702-383-0288. Follow @daltonlaferney on Twitter.