Description

Rogers Spring is a place to seek refuge from the desert heat while sitting beneath California Fan Palms or a covered picnic table, taking a dip in the warm water, having a picnic lunch, and watching a few birds and other wildlife. This isn't a birding destination; but it is one of several good places to stop and watch a few birds along the north side of Lake Mead. Most of the palms and some other trees have been cut down by the Park Service in an effort to restore the area to a more natural condition (palms are not native here), but the palms try to grow back, so vegetation conditions keep changing.

Water flows from a cave at the base of a rocky hillside into a 50-ft wide circular pool that is fairly shallow and mostly surrounded by Southern Cattails, Saltcedar, California Fan Palms, and various shrubs. The water is held behind a low earthen dam, but it overflows a spillway and runs down a shrub-lined creek and out into the desert. Green riparian vegetation, including Canyon Grape, in this sparsely vegetated section of the Mojave Desert attracts desert species year-round and migrants during spring and fall.

Covered picnic tables and vault toilets are available, but there is no drinking water. Food, drinks, and a few other services, but not gasoline, are available at the nearby Echo Bay. Swimmers should keep their nose out of the water because a pathogenic amoeba, Naegleria fowleri, may be present (as it is in most warm waters and backyard hot tubs around the USA).

Location

Rogers Spring is located on the north side of Lake Mead near Echo Bay, about 1 hour east of Las Vegas.

From downtown, drive out Lake Mead Blvd to Lake Mead National Recreation Area. At the T-intersection with Northshore Road (Table 1, Site 653), turn left onto Northshore Road and drive east for about 45 minutes to Rogers Spring Road. Turn left onto Rogers Spring Road and drive towards the hills for the short distance to the end of the road. The parking area overlooks the picnic tables and the spring pool (Site 538).

Hours

Sunrise to sunset; this is a day-use area.

Fees

It costs $25 per vehicle to enter the Recreation Area (annual passes accepted); after that, there are no extra fees for using the spring area.

Specialties

This is a good place to check the trees and shrubs for desert resident bird species and to look for migrant birds during spring and fall. This spring has been polluted with tropical aquarium fish. Please don't put exotic species in desert spring pools, they damage the ecosystem and kill native species. During summer, Desert Bighorn Sheep come to the spring for water, so if you are lucky enough to see them, give them time and space to drink before you scare them away.

The use-trail along the outflow stream can be good for finding sparrows and thrashers foraging under the bushes.

Keep an eye out for dragonflies such as Flame Skimmers and Pale-faced Clubskimmers.