First users hit the trail

More than two dozen bicyclists, one marathon runner and a handful of hikers made the inaugural journey Friday on a new segment of the Historic Railroad Trail that flanks the Boulder Basin shoreline of Lake Mead and ends at Hoover Dam's parking garage.

The 1 ½-mile compacted dirt path from Tunnel No. 5 of the 1930s railroad grade to a zigzag sidewalk that descends to the top floor of the dam's parking structure will be open every day from sunrise to sunset.

In addition, officials and partners in the project opened a paved spur of the 35-mile River Mountains Loop Trail at Pacifica Way in Boulder City that connects with the Historic Railroad Trail in Lake Mead National Recreation Area.

In all, the stretch from the Pacifica Way trail head to Hoover Dam covers more than seven miles.

"It's spectacular. It truly is," said Bill Laub of the Southwest Gas Trail Hikers, who was with a pack of bicyclists. They completed the seven-mile ride in about 45 minutes.

"You glide downhill and go back into time, or you can enjoy the geology as well as the history and the people," he said.

Las Vegas marathon runner Hamilton Ward jogged the same course in about an hour. Since 2001, he's been running the portion that opened previously and extended through four of the five tunnels of the old railroad.

"I've seen bighorn sheep out here before," Ward said.

"It's great for everyone with the fresh air, exercise and beating traffic," he said.

According to the National Park Service, construction of the railroad to haul building materials and equipment began in 1931 under a contract between the federal government and a consortium of six Western firms, known as Six Companies Inc. One of the firms was Lewis Construction Co.

In all, they built 30 miles of railroad that connected Boulder City with cement and gravel plants and a quarry pit used for building what was then called Boulder Dam on the Colorado River. Wooden ties made from Oregon fir trees supported the rails where nine steam locomotives and four gas engines were operated by a crew of 71.

Trains ran around the clock hauling gravel to a screening plant on the river. The plant's foundation is now about 150 feet below Lake Mead's surface.

Six Companies Railroad was abandoned after the dam's completion in 1935.

A remaining section was used until 1961, when the dam's last hydroelectric generator was installed.

The next year, the tracks were dismantled and sold for scrap.

At Friday's ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Pacifica Way trail head, Lake Mead National Recreation Area Superintendent Bill Dickinson said the effort of the River Mountains Loop Trail Partnership and its chairman, John Holman, to connect the loop spur with the Historic Railroad Trail is a "model of success."

Funding and labor for the project were provided by the National Park Service, the Bureau of Reclamation, the Federal Highway Administration, the Nevada Department of Transportation and Boulder City.

Twelve miles of the 35-mile course around River Mountains have been completed, and 17 more are under construction with an additional six miles in the design phase.

"We will have a completed system in the not-so-distant future," Dickinson said.

It takes about 11/2 hours to walk from the parking area of the railroad trail overlooking Lake Mead to the 30-foot-long aluminum bridge that spans the gap between the last of six sidewalk switchbacks and the top floor of the dam's parking structure.

The trail cuts through volcanic rock cliffs and winds through sunlit boulders and into the cool shade of the five historic railroad tunnels.

"It's a three-season trail," said National Park Service planner Jim Holland. He doesn't recommend the trek in the searing heat of summer.

On Friday outside Tunnel No. 2, Natalie Nitchman and Lindsay Evensen, both of Henderson, pushed strollers that carried their respective toddlers, David, 4, and Rebekah, 2; and Ben, 4, and Abby, 2.

"We like the fact that you can ride from wherever to wherever," Nitchman said. "We started doing it last summer and have been back six times."

About a half hour later, Barbara O'Neill, wife of Outside Las Vegas Executive Director Alan O'Neill, rode a bike through Tunnel No. 5 for the first time.

She remembered when her husband envisioned that segment of the trail in the early 1990s when he was the recreation area's supervisor.

"It's beyond amazing and a long time coming, and not too soon," she said.

Contact reporter Keith Rogers at krogers@reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0308.