Let There Be Lake

Entrance to Lake Las Vegas

To people who live in Las Vegas, “The Lake” usually refers to Lake Mead, that other-worldly wonder created when Hoover Dam blocked off Boulder Canyon. I say “usually,” because there are other bodies of water that also generate comment. The “water features” at the Bellagio and the Wynn resort are called lakes, and so are “The Lakes,” a set of man-made ponds in a high-end residential development on the city’s west side. But the one most likely to compete with its big brother on the Colorado is a relative newcomer in Henderson: Lake Las Vegas.

Lakeside homes

First envisioned in the mid-eighties by developer Ronald Boeddeker, Lake Las Vegas came into being in 1994, following seven years of earth-moving, dam-building, and water-channeling. It’s no easy feat to build a 320-acre, 150-foot deep lake in the middle of the howling desert, and that’s not all there is at Lake Las Vegas. There are now two resort hotels, a Hyatt Regency and a Ritz-Carlton. There are three golf courses, two spas, two casinos, twenty-eight places to eat, and over a thousand people who call the resort home. One of them is Celine Dion.

Water in the Las Vegas Wash,
which is piped under Lake Las
Vegas into Lake Mead

I’ve been out to Lake Las Vegas several times over the last few years, and I’ve enjoyed seeing it evolve as the palm trees look more relaxed and the buildings a little less sharp around the edges. It’s hard not to wonder how there can be enough water to support such a construct when Las Vegas is supposed to be in the midst of a drought, but I figure the late Marc Reisner got it right when he said, “water flows uphill toward money.” It’s particularly true of Lake Las Vegas. Not only was it built for people who can afford to buy extreme exclusivity, the water filling it literally does flow uphill. It’s pumped up from Lake Mead.

Because Lake Las Vegas lies in the path of the Las Vegas Wash, it looks like the water running down from the city is filling the lake. This is an illusion. The water from the wash enters two big pipes on the western edge of Lake Las Vegas. The pipes run under the lake and empty into Lake Mead.

Kenny G on stage in Reflection Bay

My most recent visit to Lake Las Vegas was for a concert on a stage that floats on Reflection Bay, an inlet along the lake’s ten-mile coastline near the Hyatt Regency. Kenny G performed for an audience a couple thousand strong on the sloping grass next to the water. It was one of those perfect late summer nights with a clear sky, a light breeze, and a crescent moon. Yes, it’s a fake lake, but it’s also a charming reality.

I stayed overnight at the Ritz-Carlton, whose rooms also overlook the lake. From my window, I could see flocks of ducks, a few coots, and, on the far bank, three bright blue portable toilets next to a couple of big tractors. Lake Las Vegas is still a work in progress.

MonteLago Village Resort

Next to the Ritz-Carlton is the MonteLago Casino and resort, which boasts an avenue of shops and restaurants that winds down to the lakeshore. In the morning, I had coffee at Starbucks, sitting outside under an umbrella. Nearby is another place I’ve enjoyed, an elegant but quietly relaxed wine bar called Sunset and Vines. There are numerous other dining options at MonteLago, too, from fancy restaurants and lounges to a pizza place and a chocolate shop.

When I was at Lake Las Vegas last December, the same floating stage that hosted Kenny G was hooked up to shore near the Ritz-Carlton. A couple of tastefully disguised but loud generators were chugging away, providing the power for a big refrigeration unit. The whole floating stage was serving as an ice rink, and dozens of kids bearing skates were waiting for it to open. Again, the incongruity of an artificially-frozen artificial pond floating on an artificially constructed desert oasis is hard to ignore. On the other hand, the breathless enthusiasm of the forty young ice skaters was completely authentic.

When I visit Lake Las Vegas, I can’t help thinking about what it would be like to live there. Its developers have done a good job of promoting the idea that living at a resort is as good as it gets. Valets will wash your car and a concierge will arrange your theater tickets and dinner reservations while you step out to play golf or go boating. On the other hand, the nearest shopping center features a decidedly ordinary Wal-Mart.

If Lake Las Vegas is a study in incongruity, it’s also a delightful place to go for an excursion, a concert, or a meal. Each time I visit, the palm trees look a little less like kidnapping victims and the buildings a little less like Monopoly hotels. More houses have been completed, and more people are living there full time. As long as water keeps flowing uphill, it will be a charming oasis.

Relevant links:

Awesome photos of the lake

Diagram of the community’s lay-out (PDF file)

Timeline from 1987 to 2005

Lake Las Vegas Resort

Ritz Carlton Lake Las Vegas

Montelago Village

A plan to create an island in Lake Las Vegas