Lake Mead - a view from near the end of Pierce Ferry Road

This view is from near the end of Pierce Ferry Road. Low water levels in Lake Mead resulted in the closure of this harbor for access to the lake. The muddy floodplain of Grapevine Wash is blanketed by the tamarisk, an invasive species. The high Grand Wash Cliffs mark the western edge of the Shivwitz Plateau, part of the larger Colorado Plateau region. On the Colorado Plateau, Paleozoic and Mesozoic strata are generally flat-lying. To the west of Grand Wash Cliffs, the rocks have a history of extreme Cenozoic faulting and deformation. (Beard and others, 2007; Billingsley and Wellmeyer, 2003). In Arizona these high cliffs extend along the Hualapai Valley (to the south of Pierce Ferry Road). North of Lake Mead, the Grand Wash Cliffs extend northward along the east side of the Grand Wash to near St. George, Utah.