With year round good weather, interesting topography, colorful rock formations and much more, Northern Arizona’s Willow Beach, located along the Colorado River, is one of the best locations in Northern Arizona for wildlife watching, shore fishing, boating, and picnicking.
Even in summer the river will often only be 50 degrees and the water’s transparency four-feet or greater, but it is winter when sportsmen can best appreciate Willow Beach. If desert wildflowers interest you, late winter or early spring is the time to take in the floral displays near Willow Beach, where with little or no prodding whatsoever, wildflowers burst forth in riotous swaths of color.
Below Lake Mead, 14-miles south of Hoover Dam, Willow Beach is less crowded then many of the river’s other beaches. With its access to scenic Black Canyon, Willow Beach is a good location to launch boats or rent a boat. By the edge of the deep blue water, there are often boats, green and white, bobbing up and down. Below the canyon the river lessens in its ascent.
The Colorado River, below the dam is usually tranquil and the lofty canyon walls more often than not, protect visitors from the canyon’s sometimes excessive winds, allowing many happy anglers at Willow Beach to have reported catching rainbow trout weighing five-pounds or more.
If you watch closely, sightings of bighorn sheep are not unusual here. At dusk deer venture from thickets of grass and anytime ducks paddling leisurely in the water are a common sight and it is a sure thing you will attract them over to you are if you bring bread crumbs, crackers or popcorn for them to feast upon. A fun activity if you bring children along, too.
Thirty-four million people depend on the Colorado River and the water at Willow Beach is kept at a fairly high level. Water levels in general along the Colorado are low and demand for water is rising. To experience the river is to understand the rivers limits.
If You Visit
Located in Mohave County, about 50 miles from Las Vegas, the turn off is south of the dam and another 3.5 miles off Highway 93. Willow Beach has picnic sites, a convenience store, launch ramp, boat rentals and marine fueling services. Weekdays are a good time to visit, as frequently you will have the place to yourself.
Exploring America’s southwest is a great experience, it is a place with a lot of outdoor recreation possibilities and holds a tremendous amount of western heritage.
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