Question:
Can someone illuminate me a bit as to what all in is the Hardhat Tour as
opposed to the regular tour? Is is worth the time and the extra money? I
have read some trip reports that said this was a "not-to-be-missed", but my
dad says that I would be bored looking at machinery, etc.
If we decide to do this tour, how far in advance do we need to make
reservations? We are going mid-September.
Answer:
I didn't take the "hard hat tour", but if it's anything like the standard
tour, then I'd have to say "No". The standard tour, while informative and
somewhat interesting, was otherwise boring.
Here's a link to the dam hard hat site. I took the hard hat tour and was
fascinated,
but if you don't have any interest in engineering or mechanics, you may be
bored.
http://www.hooverdam.com/service/hardhat.html
DO IT, DO IT, DO IT!
It costs $25 (well it did when I did it) and is well worth the money.
You get to go and see many many more things than on the 'normal tour'
Takes about 2 hours or so and you go inside the dam, and get to look out
from about half way down over looking the river.
The hardhat tour is longer--about 2 hours, as I recall. You get to keep
the hardhat. I really liked it, but my sense is that the key is the
person who runs the tour--we got a passionate amateur Dam-historian who
liked to tell stories about the legal and political corruption that made
the building of the Dam possible.
I, and the people travelling with me, really enjoyed it, and recommend
the hardhat tour to anyone interested in seeing the Dam.
We just walked in and bought tickets on the spot--I don't know whether
there are times when you need to get them in advance.
