Crime-ridden Lake Mead campsite could reopen in near future

Lake Mead National Recreation Area’s top official said he hopes to work with the public and use potential grant funds to reopen one of the park’s popular campsites.

Government Wash closed on Aug. 1 after visitors created more than 100 miles of illegal roads, prompted nearly 1,400 incident reports and caused continued damage to the site.

“I don’t like closing anything, but we had to kind of stay in control,” Superintendent Mike Gauthier said during a meeting Thursday.

Before deciding how to determine what the future use of the campsite will look like, the National Park Service will assess public safety risks, resource damage and infrastructure needs, Gauthier said.

The area saw an influx of “residential-type” visitors who were staying at Government Wash for long periods of time, despite little infrastructure in place to support them, officials said.

“As the lake went down, there was really no funding to extend visitor services,” Gauthier said. “This is one of the closest areas to Las Vegas, and so there’s just a lot of interest in people still trying to get to the shoreline.”

Gauthier said he understands this interest and that the issues leading up to the closure have been “decades in the making.”

“Not everybody plays well when they come to the park,” Gauthier said at the meeting, adding that the site had developed a poor reputation.

Moving forward, park officials will meet with the public later this year to best determine how to reopen the area.

Gauthier said officials have applied for a grant that would provide funds to improve infrastructure in the area.

“The real key for us here is to designate a couple of roads that we can maintain, establish some camping opportunities, install some restrooms, and really make it a place that’s much more family-friendly, fun, safe and enjoyable,” Gauthier said.

Contact Estelle Atkinson at eatkinson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @estellelilym on X and @estelleatkinsonreports on Instagram.