Lake Mead's Government Wash is closed to camping until late November, and it now has 47 sites and a 28-day cap

You cannot drive in and camp at Government Wash yet this season. The National Park Service says the campground and 8.0 Mile Road at Lake Mead are “anticipated to reopen in late November to vehicle access and overnight camping,” and that the area stays open for non-motorized day use until then (NPS Government Wash page, last updated October 15, 2026, checked October 20, 2026). No date is set yet.

When it does reopen, it will not look like Government Wash before the restoration.

What Government Wash is now

The NPS ran a site restoration there from 2023 to 2025 that created 47 defined campsites, improved the access roads, and clarified the boundaries. It reopened in early 2026 with two full-time campground hosts. It has no electrical hookups, no permanent restrooms, no potable water and no sewage facilities. That is why it closes in summer: the park says it cannot safely keep hosts there through the southern Nevada heat.

So: arrive with full water and empty tanks, and expect a defined site, not an open area where you pick your own spot.

The rule: 28 days in 12 months

The Lake Mead Superintendent’s Compendium (last updated June 11, 2026, checked October 20, 2026) is where the limits live. Under section 2.10, within any consecutive 12-month period, camping in developed campgrounds is limited to 90 days, and camping “in a designated camping areas or the general backcountry is limited to 28 days.” Past those limits, the park treats it as residency.

The same section says vehicle camping in the Boulder Basin, the area north of U.S. 93 and west of a line from Promontory Point north to Roadrunner Cove, is allowed “ONLY in designated campgrounds,” and then: “For the purposes of this section, Government Wash is a designated camping area.”

That makes Government Wash a 28-day place, not a 90-day place. The compendium does not spell out whether days at different designated areas are added together toward the 28, so ask the hosts before you plan a long winter around it. Other parks do count stay limits park-wide.

Where the NPS pages disagree

The Government Wash page calls it “a developed campground” in one sentence and “a designated campground” in the next. Those labels carry different limits in the compendium, and Government Wash is not on the compendium’s list of developed campgrounds. We go with the compendium, because it is the document that sets the limit.

What it costs

You need a Lake Mead entrance pass no matter what: $25 per private vehicle for 1 to 7 days, or $45 for the Lake Mead annual pass, cashless only (NPS fees page, checked October 20, 2026). An America the Beautiful pass covers entry. Whether Government Wash also charges a camping fee is not verified: none of the NPS pages we read states one, and a gap is not proof it is free. The park’s visitor line is 702-293-8990.

Until late November

If you are in the Las Vegas area now, the compendium allows vehicle camping outside the Boulder Basin at least half a mile down an approved backcountry road and a quarter mile from any spring, with a 14-day limit per camp area before you move at least a mile. The campgrounds page says vehicle camping is permitted only at developed campgrounds or “in primitive areas designated on the backcountry maps.” Get the map from the park before you pick a road. Our Nevada free camping page is the starting point for land outside the park boundary.

Whatever you choose, the posted sign and the ranger or host on site beat this page and every app.