America's first national recreation area, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, was established in 1964 after Hoover and Davis Dams subdued the Colorado River and created Lake Mead and Lake Mohave. In one of the hottest, driest regions on earth, the lakes draw millions of visitors each year for fishing, boating, and swimming, yet they make up only a small part of the area. More than one million acres of diverse terrain surround them, ranging from creosote-covered desert to the pines of the Shivwits Plateau, with large expanses of wilderness lying only miles from a major metropolis. The area also preserves remnants of ancient and modern human history, including sacred Native American petroglyphs and a sunken Cold War era B-29 bomber.