Lake Mead - Eldorado Canyon Wash

Eldorado Canyon Wash has been the site of infrequent flash floods that have resulted in tragedy. Floodwaters reached a depth of 20 to 30 feet in the canyon in a flood in October 1974 resulting in the destruction of numerous homes near Nelsons Landing (Tingley and others, 2001). Before the dams were built on the Colorado River, steamboats used to stop near the mouth of the wash to supply the gold mines in Eldorado Canyon near the towns of Nelson and Searchlight, Nevada.