Less than an hour from the glitz of the Las Vegas strip, boondockers have had a refuge. The Lake Mead National Recreation Area is a winter playground, and Government Wash a major draw for RVers who put their self-containment to the test. But come Thursday, it’s all over. Crime and damage are closing this popular Lake Mead boondocking area.
Government Wash—Lake Mead boondocking area shut down
The National Park Service is closing the Government Wash portion of Lake Mead National Recreation Area to motor vehicle access and overnight camping beginning August 1, 2024.
Officially Government Wash Road and 8.0 Mile Road—access roads into Government Wash from North Shore Road—will be blocked. Motor vehicle access into the area will be prohibited. Hiking, biking, and shoreline access by boat for recreation within 100 feet of the shoreline will remain available.
Crime, resource damage, “a negative reputation”
What’s led to the closure? A press release from the Park Service says that residential-type visitors have moved in, and the area doesn’t have the infrastructure, facilities, or services available to support their use. The result has been natural and cultural resource damage, high rates of crime, illegal and unauthorized road creation, and an overall declining visitor experience. The area has taken on a negative reputation.
“In the past five years, there have been 1,365 incidents in that area alone, requiring park law enforcement or firefighting personnel response,” said Trouper Snow, chief ranger. “We have seen unacceptable levels of resource damage and crime, which is a drain on our park staffing as it draws resources from traditional high use areas. The myriad of illegal roads and long-term encampments have created an unwelcoming environment for those who recreate throughout the Government Wash area.”
Low-level crime and “more serious incidents”
More than a thousand incidents? What kind of problems have the burgeoning number of visitors—both snowbirds and “residential”—brought? One boondocker posted about their experience last year, “Saw the mixed reviews but had no problems at all, saw nothing sketchy.” Park Service officials spelled some of the problems out.
From January 2022 to February 2024, law enforcement responded to 500+ incidents at Government Wash. Many were routine, low-level law enforcement activities, such as vehicle registration infractions, off-leash pets, camping violations, littering, and drugs. They also dealt with medical and search-and-rescue incidents. Of greater concern, NPS rangers saw an increase in more serious incidents and crimes: assaults, sex offenses, fugitive apprehensions, fires, suicides, and other fatalities.
It’s not just law enforcement and medical issues that’s led to the closing of this Lake Mead boondocking area. The Service is quick to point out that it’s not just who is visiting Government Wash, but the large numbers the site attracts. The boondocking area just doesn’t have the infrastructure or capacity to support so many people. Along with the big number of people are “significant amounts of trash, human waste, illegal campfire rings, illegal roads, and other detritus in the area.”
Environmental damage taking a toll
Then there’s the toll taken on natural and cultural resources, not to mention a web of more than 100 miles of illegal roads. These make the area difficult for search-and-rescue efforts. Many boondockers have commented on the difficulty of getting bigger rigs down through the area because of the unusual soil. Some of that is gypsum. Gypsum soils are the home of the Las Vegas Bear Poppy, an endangered plant.
Some of the soils are cryptobiotic, living soils. They’re made up of very small organisms that cannot be seen with the naked eye. This kind of soil helps prevent wind and water erosion and provides nutrients for desert plants. Well-developed cryptobiotic soils can take hundreds or thousands of years to form and their recovery after destruction would not happen in our lifetimes.
Does it mean the end of recreation in Government Wash?
With these issues in mind, officials will shut down Government Wash to all vehicle traffic. Does that mean the forever-end to boondocking in the area? Lake Mead officials say, no. The agency says it’s committed to working with the public to find the best way to manage Government Wash in a way that satisfies public needs and yet addresses these other concerns.
Lake Mead National Recreation Area staff are developing a Government Wash improvement plan with short- and long-term operations. The solution, says the Park Service, includes designated roads, camping infrastructure, and resources the park needs to protect the area’s natural beauty while preserving cultural artifacts.
Community meetings are being planned for the fall. In the meantime, your feedback and ideas on the Government Wash area are welcome any time prior to the meetings. Click here to comment.
##RVT1168b
Sounds like the same problem that Alabama Hills had. Really sad.
Thank you, Russ and Tina! 🙂 I have never been thereabouts. What do y’all think? Have you been RVing there? We have been west of the Mississippi River three times in the RV. Twice in #1 (2019 and 2020) and once in #2 (2022). Meanwhile, thanks again, have a great day, safe travels, and safe stays! 🙂
Wow, what a really sad state of affairs going on there.
Not only there but everywhere in America is a sad state of affairs.
Regardless of what ‘they say’, I’m betting this is the end of Government Wash as a camping area.
Time to rally the troops! Now is the time to submit your responses. It’s fast and easy.
The lack of enforcing stay limits and park rules is the root cause. Merely closing the area only moves the squatters and their trash to a different area to spoil. Homelessness isn’t a crime but trashing public lands and excluding others from using locations for their intended purpose certainly is. Treat it as such, that’s why citizens pay you.
This is exactly the same story as the BLM areas adjacent to Lost Dutchman SP; closed for the same reasons, awaiting the same improvements.
Welp, another one bites the dust. I wonder how long it will be before they shut down the LTVA’s and other camping areas in Quartzsite/Yuma with all the problems they’ve been having with bad campers. Which is unfortunate because there are so many more good campers than bad, but the good campers aren’t on the radar. This will only get worse as more bad actors are forced from traditional housing or from vehicle camping in other areas. I wonder if adding a few camp hosts in this area would have helped?
From a State Park Camp Host perspective, no. As volunteers, we have responsibility but no authority. Assume it would be the same at the National Parks/areas.
Upon rereading this, I just noticed “fugitive apprehensions” listed among the problems. Doesn’t that actually seem like a good thing?
It’s the fact that there are fugitives out there to apprehend in the first place that’s a bad thing. They’re going to seek out isolated, semi-remote places like that to hide, with the bonus of other people to rob and rape and hostages to take…
Update: I already received a response from NPS. They do hear us.
15 years full time on the road and I can tell you BLM does very little to enforce the 14 day camping limit!
Closure is not management. This is further proof that the National Park Service cannot properly manage the vast amount of land that they currently control. Yet they constantly want more. When I lived in Vegas in the 1980’s/90’s entry into the Lake Mead Recreation Area was free. Now they charge $25. They always say the fees…and fee increases…are necessary and will fix (insert pressing issue of the day here), yet nothing gets fixed. The National Park Service needs to be held to account for their failures, and the closure of Government Wash is definitely the result of their failure.
Why government is not the answer. Never has been nor will be. Vote wisely.
Private ownership wouldn’t do any better. Unsupervised crowds tend to act poorly.
It’s going to get worse. Markets crashing, unemployment up, inflation up….. hold on tight it’s going to be ugly.
Los Angeles will be cleaning up it’s streets for the 28 Olympics and the homeless will be coming to a neighborhood near you.
I seriously doubt that the ones ruining the place know anything about cryptobiotic, living soils.