LAS VEGAS (KLAS) The National Park Service has removed an iconic speedboat that had been sticking out of Lake Mead for years.

On Friday, July 25, the boat’s brief moment in the sun ended when park officials pulled the “unofficial lake level indicator” out of the water.

A social media post suggested the operation may have been quite costly, pointing to an expensive piece of equipment that appeared to be stranded onshore. Another showed something still in the water on July 27, apparently a leftover chunk of the boat.

Lake Mead officials provided no details on how they did the job, but they did explain why.

“We understand that some were curious about the abandoned boat in the Las Vegas Wash area. But the boat, like other abandoned boats, was also viewed as an eyesore and nuisance and poorly represented the quality of boating recreation at Lake Mead,” Lake Mead Superintendent Mike Gauthier said in a statement emailed to affiliate KLAS.

“We communicated with our concessioners, recreation partners, and gateway business community, and they agreed that removing trash, abandoned camps, pop-ups, and derelict boats, helps to restore and protect the grandeur of Lake Mead,” Gauthier said.

His view of the boat was known. He addressed the topic during a virtual community meeting in September 2023.

“We don’t want our visual to be abandoned boats. We want our visual to be people having a great time at the lake,” Gauthier said at the time.

A park spokesman said the boat was removed as part of the Love Lake Mead program, which includes an effort to clean up the shoreline and enhance the natural character of high-use areas.

There would have been no witnesses when the hull was ripped from the lake bottom. The Government Wash portion of Lake Mead National Recreation Area is closed, with roadblocks preventing access from land. That step was taken on Aug. 1, 2024, when unauthorized roads were shut off after litter got out of control. People had set up camp and stayed far longer than allowed under park rules.

There’s sentiment on social media supporting Lake Mead officials’ attempts to get things under control. But those same posts lament the loss of the marker.

Boaters set out to find the site when reports by KLAS propelled the speedboat into the public eye. Photos of the site through Lake Mead’s ups and downs spurred interest.

KLAS first wrote about the boat in a May 23, 2022, report. Lake Mead was dropping fast, and in two months the surface would reach its lowest point 1,041.71 feet above sea level since the nation’s largest reservoir was filled in the 1930s.

In August 2023, a KLAS reporter chronicled his trip to the site and posted photos of a teddy bear and other personal items found inside the boat.

One Lake Mead regular offered a fitting name for the speedboat: “Skyward.”

Joey Alexander recalled when the name came into existence.

“Yeah, that’s funny. We had named all the boat wrecks back in 2022 because we kept finding so many, we wanted the audience to be able to keep track. ‘Skyward’ by far was the most famous,” he said. The next most popular? “Higgins,” at the marina.

“Though the Skyward boat had become an icon of the Lake Mead drought and was a popular landmark for many, including me, it was also a reminder of our water quality. At the end of the day, I’m glad the Park Service is making new efforts to clean up the reservoir,” Alexander said.

Jill Lagan, CEO of the Boulder City Chamber of Commerce, said, “Lake Mead is one of our region’s greatest assets, and how it’s cared for matters to our visitors, our economy, and our identity as a gateway community. We support the Park’s efforts to remove abandoned boats and other blight that detract from the lake’s beauty. Restoring the shoreline is not just about aesthetics it’s about protecting the experience that brings people back to Boulder City and to the lake year after year.”