Valley Of Fire State Park

Valley of Fire State Park

Valley of Fire is located in the Mojave Desert approximately 58 miles Northeast of the Las Vegas Strip.  Valley of Fire is the oldest Nevada State Park and was dedicated in 1935.  Valley of Fire State Park covers an area of approximately 35,000 acres.  Valley of Fire was named for the magnificent red sandstone formations that were formed from great shifting sand dunes during the age of the dinosaurs more than 150 million years ago (Mesozoic Era).  These brilliant sandstone formations can appear to be on fire when reflecting the sun’s rays.  Other important rock formations include limestone, shale, and conglomerates.

Valley of Fire is marked as Nevada Historical Marker #150 (Nevada’s First State Park).  Valley of Fire Road is the main road through the park.  The 10.5 mile (16.9 km) road connects the east and west entrances of the park and was designated as a Nevada Scenic Byway in 1995.

Prehistoric people of Valley of Fire included the Anasazi, who were farmers from the nearby fertile Moapa Valley. Their visits to Valley of Fire probably involved hunting, food gathering, and religious ceremonies.  There are fine examples of rock art (petroglyphs) at several locations throughout Valley of Fire.

 Gerry and I decided to drive 75 miles from Boulder City to the Valley of Fire to check it out.  We've heard about it for years, but never had an opportunity to visit it.  The weather forecast in the area called for much warmer temps and we wanted to avoid the heat out there, so it was a go for Tuesday.

25 minute delay for road work

It doesn't do a lot of good to write about the park and pictures don't do it justice, but I'm showing some of our favorite pictures taken.  All in all we managed to take 250 photos and could have taken more if we had time.  The following part of the blog is going to be mostly pictures.  Enjoy!

Ride up with giant scree in view

Deep cuts in the rocks

The Cabins built and used by the Civilian Conservation Corp in the 1930s

What can I say about this rock?

Very nice park road

Area near the petroglyphs

One of the many petroglyphs

Gerry returning from Petroglyph hike.  Just a little worn out.

 Gerry wanted to see the petroglyphs and decided to make the trek back to see them.  The pathway was in loose sand about 6-8 inches deep and hard to walk in.  As you can see in the photo above, it was a difficult walk and tired Gerry out.  She does have her pretty new hat on and appreciated the shade it gave off.  Not my idea of a good time and we had a car full of cameras, GPS, and other goodies and I didn't want to leave them alone in the car unattended, so I stayed behind.

Silica Dome

Guess what this is.

White Domes

Neat arch

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to the Valley of Fire State Park and had a great time.  Nice ride, beautiful views and fantastic rock formations.  What more could you ask for?

We also checked out the campgrounds in the park and one was large RV friendly with some electrical and water hookups.  Others were water only, but there was a dump station at the entrance along with potable water.  I understand the campsites go fast, so be there early if you want one.

We made a loop of the trip leaving from Boulder City and taking Lakeshore Drive along Lake Mead and then Northshore Drive until we got to the park entrance.  After driving through the park, we took the western exit and came out on I-15 after a few miles.  Then it was a quick drive back to Boulder City.  The round trip took 6-7 hours and could be done quicker if we'd taken I-15 both ways, but we would have missed some great scenery.

We did get back in time for Gerry to watch her NCIS  and Person of Interest shows.  It was hard to stay up until 11pm, but we managed and then hit the feather bed ball.

That was our day, how was yours?