This short float trip on a desert river offers dramatic cliffs, wildlife and bird watching, and side canyons with hot springs. Its location in a heavily-visited Western park may surprise you.

October 13, 1936, marked the creation of Boulder Dam National Recreation Area and a brand-new category of management units for the National Park Service. The recreation area no longer exists by its original name, but its legacy continues in one of the most heavily-visited parks in the country. During their first 30 years the park and the dam underwent more name changes than the rock entertainer formerly known as….

More than 150,000 visitors enjoyed Lake Mead National Recreation Area on Labor Day weekend. Park officials planned carefully beforehand to handle the throng, which included about 150 Hells Angels bikers passing through on a poker run. Despite a severe thunderstorm and other complications, there were few serious incidents and only one fatality.

Lake Mead National Recreation Area, which celebrated its 61st birthday August 11, attracts almost 8 million visitors a year. Nearly all return home safely with fond memories of fun on or in the park’s two huge lakes. Accidents do happen, though, and nearly always because people violate commonsense safety rules.

During 2006, 11 homicides were investigated across the national park system. Two involved women who had been pushed off cliffs, one was a suicide, and one was the victim of a DUI accident.