Lake Mead - the Lakeview Overlook

This view is looking northwest from the Lakeview Overlook. Las Vegas Boat Harbor is in the foreground. The steep escarpment on the lakeshore to the right is on Saddle Island. Saddle Island consists of Precambrian-age (Proterozoic) metamorphic rocks, about 1.7 billion years old. These rocks are more resistant to surface erosion than the softer sedimentary rocks exposed to the west along the flank of River Mountains (to the left in this image). The bridge-like structure at the south end of Saddle Island is a water intake for the water system that serves the city of Henderson, Nevada. The Saddle Island Fault runs along the west side of Saddle Island (forming the steep escarpment on the west side of the hill). The Frenchman Mountains near Las Vegas are in the distance (Choukroune and Smith, 1985).