Posted by Mark Clawson
Floyd Lamb State Park has been in the news lately; they are renovating one of the historic buildings on the site. The building will become the new Visitors Center. I wrote an article about the park about 2 years ago and I thought the timing might be right to expose you to the park once again.
At first blush there doesn’t seem to be much going on here, not many visitors. However, this park has a very interesting history attached to it. Water was the key attraction at Tule Springs. The native Indian population made use of the springs, as did the local propectors. In 1941, Jacob Foumond carved out a working ranch and he took advantage of the divorce laws in Nevada and created a dude ranch for prospective divorcees.
The ranch could accomodate 10-12 guests waiting out their six-weeks residency requirement. Life on the dude ranch was glamorized in newspapers and made famous by the many movie stars who came to obtain a divorce. Tule Springs was also a self-supporting ranch where alfapha was planted and Brangus cattle were bred and raised. In 1964 the City of Las Vegas purchased the property and renamed it in the honor of State Senator Floyd Lamb. In 1977 the State acquired the property only to transfer it back to the city of Las Vegas in July of this year (2007). Eons ago, when Tule Springs was much cooler and wetter than today, large mammals, simliar to those in Africa today, lived in the canyons and lush valleys of the area.
The lakes are stocked with fish monthly and it’s a great place to catch catfish and other varieties of fish. The fee is $6 daily per car. You can walk, bike or ride a horse into the park for just $1 a day.
This is really a fine place to take the kids and have a BBQ. You will need a Nevada State fishing license to fish the Lakes. Group reservations start at $50 (plus a $25 Refundable Deposit) for group of 100 people.
