Cox awards $250K for railroad trail

It’s one of the most popular trails within the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, and thanks to a generous grant, will soon be receiving a makeover.

This past Friday, a small group of invited guests and media members gathered at the Alan Bible Visitor Center where the James M. Cox Foundation (the charitable arm of Cox Enterprises) presented a $250,000 grant to Get Outdoors Nevada.

This money is being used to refurbish part of the Historic Railroad Trail, which is located within the park, just down from the visitor center.

The grant will support the Erosion Trail Repair Plan for the Historic Railroad Trail, one of the most popular year-round, no-fee, outdoor recreation trails in Southern Nevada, a new release stated. The repair plan is a partnership between Get Outdoors Nevada, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, the National Park Service and Great Basin Institute.

“At Cox, we empower our employees and communities to build a better future for the next generation, and with this gift from the Foundation, we can support critical erosion repair efforts and help maintain the Historic Railroad Trail for the more than 40,000 hikers, bikers, infant strollers, wheelchairs and dogs who utilize the trail annually,” Cox’s Las Vegas Market Vice President Janet Uthman said in the release.

The 7.5-mile round-trip trail follows the railroad bed built in 1931 to support the construction of Hoover Dam and offers panoramic views of Lake Mead as it passes through five historic railroad tunnels - each approximately 25 feet wide, 30 feet high and 300 feet long. Heavy use and destructive monsoon rain events have resulted in erosion that threatens the long-term safety and accessibility of the trail and tunnels.

“This extraordinary gift will be used to help restore the trail,” Get Outdoors Nevada Interim Executive Director Bart Patterson said at the Friday event. “There’s erosion that needs to be accounted for. There’s surfacing that needs to be improved. As you go far enough into the tunnels, there’s work that needs to be done on the tunnels themselves to shore those up. All of this is for the purpose of it continuing to be one of the go-to trails in Southern Nevada.”

Boulder City Councilwoman Denise Ashurst praised the donation and said the refurbished trail will continue to be a stop for those visiting the area.

“The Historic Railroad Trail has, and will continue, to draw folks from all over the world to our beautiful city,” she said. “Along with our railroad museum and our adventure center that are coming up, together I know that they will capture the memories and hearts and minds of many generations to come.”

Looking back

According to the park’s website, in 1931, the federal government partnered with Six Companies, Inc., a group of six major western construction firms, to build nearly 30 miles of railroad connecting the Hoover Dam and Boulder City. The route was essential in the dam’s construction as it allowed workers to move materials and resources from nearby cement mixing and gravel sorting plants and the quarry pits to build the dam.

The railroad tracks were dismantled in 1962, the site states.

The current multi-use trail was established in 1992 and connection to the Hoover Dam in 2007. Today the trail, perfect for hikers and bikers, features incredible vistas of Lake Mead and Boulder Basin and five tunnels – each approximately 25 feet wide.