The world is full of fabulous and mysterious natural phenomena to delight travelers: the Northern Lights of Scandinavia, the mystical light beams of Antelope Canyon, or the sailing stones of Death Valley. However, very few realize that very close to Las Vegas is a little known, hidden cave that lights up in brilliant emerald green, making everything inside it glow. The water, the cave, and everyone in it is bathed in emerald light.
This hidden gem is only accessible by kayak, canoe or paddle raft. It’s only one hour away from Las Vegas, hidden along the shores of the mighty Colorado River. The only way to experience this mystery is to paddle along the Black Canyon Water Trail, which you can not do on your own. You must get there through a guided tour.
What Makes the Cave Light Up Emerald Green?
The eerily beautiful Emerald Cave lights up on sunny days but not due to algae, as is commonly believed. Rather, the photogenic emerald green of the water is produced by the combination of the sun reflecting off of the cave’s brownish-yellow walls and a cloudless blue sky. It’s like nature mixing ephemeral paint from pure light, to envelope the visitor in ethereal, mesmerizing emerald green.
Seeing Emerald Cave for Yourself
One hint as to the location of this hidden gem? It’s just two miles downriver from Willow Beach, near the Willow Beach Gauging Station. This is a wonder in itself. Built-in 1931 to monitor the downstream river flow from Hoover Dam, the station was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. The gauging station hangs precariously to the steep, vertical wall of Black Canyon. The only way to access the station is to traverse a cable tramway for hundreds of feet through the air. While that adventure is not commonly accessible to tourists, the gauge station is one more stop along the way to take great pictures.
However, the best way to see Emerald Cave is to take a kayak tour; there are a variety of tours available for every skill level. These tours launch from the Willow Beach Marina on the Arizona side of the Colorado River. Willow Beach is located 14 miles south of Hoover Dam on the Arizona side of the river. Many of the tours have pick-ups available in Las Vegas. However, if you decide to drive to Willow Beach Marina yourself, the park service charges $25 for a one week pass into the Lake Mead Recreation Area.
Another reason to go with an Emerald Cave kayak tour is that the tour companies know exactly when the cave will light up green. They can guide you to the event with precise timing, whereas going on your own could be hit or miss. The sunlight only reflects off the bottom of the river at certain times of the day, illuminating the normally dark cave in brilliant emerald green.
A kayak tour to just Emerald Cave is a half-day, 4-mile round trip trek. It will also include a pick-up in Las Vegas and a few stops along the river as well as lunch. However, there are a multitude of different river tours you can take, some of them all-day affairs or some that may include an overnight camping trip. The Colorado River is an exciting nature destination for you to explore.
While there are several different tour companies leading expeditions to the cave, the one that stands out is Vegas Glass Kayaks. While other tours travel the same routes, what makes Vegas Glass Kayaks different is that they have see-through kayaks made from tough, clear polycarbonate. You’ll not only be thoroughly saturated in the mystical green light of the cave, but you’ll also be able to see the river flowing beneath you. The “glass” kayaks will provide a unique view into the life of this vital river, including its fish, plants, and smaller but visible organisms.
It’s More Than Just a Cave
While Emerald Cave may be your ultimate destination, you’ll see a lot more along the way. All of the tours traverse the Black Canyon Water Trail, which is managed by the National Parks Service. As you paddle along, you’ll discover hidden beaches, hot springs, caves, and the solitude you can only find in nature. You may spot the elusive desert bighorn sheep up on the cliffs, as well as other wildlife along the river. Coyotes, rabbits, bald eagles, great blue heron, wild horses, and burros all make this region their home. Historic buildings and other structures left from building Hoover Dam are also along the water trail.
While you may simply choose to take an easy, 4-mile round trip to Emerald Cave, you can go even further. The Black Canyon Water Trail spans 30-miles, going all the way up to Hoover Dam and all the way down to Eldorado Canyon.
The Secretary of the Interior designated the Black Canyon portion of the Colorado River as a National Water Trail in 2014. It’s the first water trail in the Southwest and the first one flowing through the desert. You can access the Black Canyon Water Trail on your own from Willow Beach in Arizona or from the old mining town of Eldorado Canyon in Nevada. However, you can only access the river from the base of Hoover Dam with a guided tour, due to national security reasons.
The Black Canyon of the Colorado
This is the narrow, Colorado River canyon where Hoover Dam was built. This spectacular canyon has walls of volcanic rock towering more than 900 feet high. The canyon forms a portion of the border between Arizona and Nevada; the eastern wall is formed by the Black Mountains of Arizona, and the western wall of the canyon is formed by the El Dorado Mountains of Nevada. The canyon is named for the spectacular black volcanic rocks forming the walls and seen throughout the canyon.
While Emerald Cave is literally the “gem” of Black Canyon, there are other interesting places to explore here. For one thing, the canyon has quite a few hot springs bubbling up to the surface or seeping out from the walls of the gorge. In fact, there are Emerald Cave kayak tours that include the hot springs between Emerald Cave and Hoover Dam. Some of these splendid, warm pools are hidden in between the walls of narrow slot canyons, and others are filled with warm water with delightful waterfalls.
This primitive canyon is only accessible by paddling. As a result, it’s largely unspoiled by the intrusion of civilization. The good news is, the river flowing through the Black Canyon is entirely flat water; there are no rapids to contend with. That means, even if you’re a novice kayaker, you shouldn’t run into any trouble while you paddle along, admiring all the beauty. However, if you decide to hike the shores, the terrain can be rough and you’ll need more than a pair of flip-flops. Wear a good pair of water shoes or sandals. Some of the hot springs will require some scrambling to reach, and you’ll need to have your hands free.
The Best Time to Visit
Any time of year is a great time to visit both Emerald Cave and the Black Canyon of the Colorado. However, this is a desert where temperatures exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer. If you would like to scramble up to a few hot springs on your trip, autumn, winter or spring are the ideal times. It can also get cooler than you might expect during the winter, with nighttime temperatures sometimes dropping below freezing. You may want to consider that if you’d like to plan an overnight camping trip. Paddling the river’s glassy, smooth water during the winter is relaxing. Likewise, the heat of the summer makes the cool water of the river inviting and refreshing.
You’ll also want to plan your trip in advance. In addition to the price of any tour, paddling down the Colorado River on the Black Canyon Water Trail requires a $27 National Park Service permit, and these are issued on a limited basis and can sell out quickly. This applies even if you are paddling and touring the canyon on your own. The permits can sell out 6 months in advance, so plan accordingly. The permitting process is one more reason to go with a guided tour; they can help take care of that for you.
Most people only think of the Las Vegas Strip when they think of Nevada, but there is so much more to see and do here. Steep rocky cliffs, deep ravines, cool, clear water, hot springs, and mysterious caves are not what you expect less than an hour from Las Vegas. But it’s all there, just waiting to be discovered by you.
Kayaking the Colorado River through the Black Canyon to Emerald Cave is a delightfully different experience. While gambling in Vegas and taking in the shows is what most tourists do, you can easily forge a different path. It’s an experience you won’t forget.
