Location Spotlight: Lake Mead

Located on the Colorado River approximately 24 miles from the Las Vegas Strip, Lake Mead is the largest man-made reservoir in the United States and is formed by the Hoover Dam. When filled to its capacity, Lake Mead can store 28 million acre-feet of water (source). It provides water to Arizona, California, and Nevada and is also a popular year-round destination for visitors to enjoy recreational activities such as fishing, boating, water skiing, hiking, swimming, camping, and more.

Lake Mead National Recreation Area has several marinas as well as a number of small islands. Spanning across 1.5 million acres of mountains, canyons, valleys, desert, sandy beaches, coves with rocky cliffs, and water, Lake Mead remains the most diverse national recreation area in America, offering a multitude of unique backdrops for filming all in one expansive location (source).

Lake Mead offers an extraordinary ecosystem with a variety of plant life and wildlife, a spectacular geological history that continues to transform its landscape, and an abundance of cultural artifacts that help tell the history of early settlers in the area.

In addition to these remarkable properties, Lake Mead is also home to innovative engineering and impressive technological feats that include the construction of the Hoover Dam, the Mike O’Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge (one of the tallest single-span concrete arch bridges in the world), and a three-mile long subsurface tunnel to pipe water from the lake’s bottom (source).

Lake Mead Filming Details

If you would like to film at Lake Mead, please note that there is a non-refundable processing fee. There is also a reservation fee plus a daily fee determined by vehicle size and crew size. There is no filming on weekends or holidays.

For additional information about commercial filming/still photography application and permit fees, you can visit the nps.gov website.

Lake Mead Filmography

Lake Mead has an extensive filmography that includes, but is not limited to, the following productions:

The Billion Dollar Threat; Bite the Bullet; Cherry 2000; Fake-Out; Falling Sky; Flesh and Blood; Fools Rush In; Heldorado; Kill Me Again; The Lady Gambles; The Las Vegas Story; Lucky/Chances; MacShayne: Final Roll of the Dice; Mars Attacks; Mike Hammer: Murder Takes All; Mission: Africa; Money Plays; Oxford Blues; The Reward; Tu Ying Dang An; Viva Las Vegas; The Way to Gold; The Professionals; Into the Wild; Lake Mead

If you are looking for one of the most diverse filming locations in the world that offers an abundance of distinct environmental landscapes and awe-inspiring man-made creations, be sure to check out Lake Mead. For more information, you can view the full Lake Mead filming location details here and don’t forget to register your project!