Kingman Wash is an undeveloped shoreline cove on the Arizona side of Lake Mead, inside Lake Mead National Recreation Area, which the National Park Service manages. It sits about two miles upstream of Hoover Dam at the mouth of Kingman Wash, below the dark bulk of Fortification Hill, and the banded rock around the water's edge is known locally as the Paint Pots. There is no designated swim beach here. People swim off the sand and gravel shore at the end of the road, and the same cove draws campers, shore anglers after striped bass, and scuba divers.

From Boulder City, cross into Arizona on US 93 and take Exit 2, about two miles past the dam. Go left under the highway and pick up Kingman Wash Road (NPS Road 70) on the east side of the interchange. This maintained dirt road runs about 3.6 miles over the hills and drops, steeply in places, into the wash. Careful drivers usually manage it in a sedan, but high clearance is safer, and some people towing trailers have needed four-wheel drive to get back out. Two vault toilets stand at the Fortification Hill Road (Road 70C) junction, once near the waterline. With Lake Mead far below full, the road continues about 0.3 miles more to the present shore, where you park on the open flats. Driving off the park's yellow-arrow roads is prohibited.

The water is the open reservoir, with no buoys, no roped area and no lifeguards. The shore shelves into silty mud, and the cove's rock walls drop past 100 feet, so it gets deep quickly a short way out. One dive writeup logged 77-degree water on a hot day, and the lake runs much colder in winter. People put kayaks and small boats in from this shore, and the park prohibits swimming at launch areas, so swim away from anyone launching. The NPS bans pool toys at Lake Mead, including water wings, beach balls and pool noodles, and it asks everyone in the water to wear a life jacket.

There is no entrance station on this road, but every visitor in Lake Mead National Recreation Area needs a park entrance pass. It costs $25 per private vehicle for 1 to 7 days, $20 for motorcycles, and $15 per person on foot or bicycle (under 16 free), and a $45 Lake Mead annual pass or an America the Beautiful pass covers it. The park takes cards only, and you can buy the pass online before you go. There is no separate day-use or parking charge at Kingman Wash, and the park does not post separate hours for it.

The NPS does not test Lake Mead for bacteria, toxic algae or swimmer's itch. Stay out of water with bright green scum on the surface, and towel off right after swimming. Lake levels change often, and wet mud along the receding shoreline has trapped both people and vehicles, so test the ground before you drive or walk onto it. Summer heat in this canyon is severe and there is no shade or drinking water. Monsoon storms between July and September can send flash floods down the wash and leave the road rutted or washed out, so check conditions with the park at 702-293-8990.

Shoreline camping is allowed, up to 15 days, and the flats fill with RVs and tents on weekends. Wild burros wander through. Fortification Hill Road leads to the trailhead for the steep scramble up Fortification Hill, and the park's developed swim area, Boulder Beach, is across the state line in Nevada.