Anxious for an adventure, my family and I set out to Las Vegas, Nevada over the Thanksgiving holiday. Ditching the traditional table spread of turkey and mashed potatoes, we set out to the desert and the city that doesn't sleep. After three days in the bustling city of Vegas, we decided to take our adventures far from the noise of the casino strips to the smell of fresh air and beautiful scenery outside of the city. Eager to escape the large crowds and the hustle and bustle of tourists, we booked a tour to visit one of Nevada’s state parks: fittingly called the Valley of Fire. Located in the Mohave Desert, it is about an hour away from the Las Vegas strip. Curious to learn more about the bright red rocks I had read about in this part of the desert, I set out on a visit to this impressive state park.
If you're visiting Vegas -- and by the way, I definitely recommend marking Vegas off your bucket list if you haven't already -- it's worth the hour drive from the strip to see some nature. You'll forget non-manmade structures even exist after three days of taxi cab drivers, exhaust fumes, and the endless strip of skyscrapers. Do yourself a favor and reconnect with the outdoors at this registered state park. It will be an adventure you won't forget!
Stay tuned for my Vegas travel guide! I'd love to give you some of the highlights I enjoyed on my trip out west. Really curious about the history of Valley of Fire State Park? Check out my blog post: VALLEY OF FIRE: THE HISTORY.
MY TOP 10: Check out my list below for the TOP TEN items you should see within the park. Feel free to rent a car and drive from the strip, but if you want a guided tour, I would highly recommend Pink Jeep Adventure Tours. The jeep is elevated, so you can easily see out the windows. This company also prides itself on intimate tours with smaller groups of people. We had seven of us for the day tour, and due to the size of our tour, I learned way more information and could ask several questions. We also could make lots of stops throughout the park, as it was easier to get a smaller group of people in and out of the vehicle quickly. We also found a coupon for them on Groupon -- check them out!
#1: ELEPHANT ROCK
Elephant Rock is one of the several rock formations within the park that resembles an object or animal. The significance behind this photo is that it gives a perfect example of how the rocks have shifted to resemble something of interest. Notice the front of the rock formation: this skinny portion represents the elephant’s trunk. The large formation of rock that is connected to what looks like an elephant’s trunk is represented by an elephant’s body. This is a great point of interest within the park, as it is located near the road. It is an easy tourist stop, and you can even see this without leaving your vehicle.
What caused these super-cool formations? These rock formations are said to have been caused due to the shifting of the plates under the rocks. It is said that these formations were exposed when older rocks were pushed sideways on a thrust fault over younger rocks. The result are various shapes and sizes that represent objects in our daily world — especially if you use your imagination! Can't find Elephant Rock? Stop into the Visitor's Center for an explanation of all the rock formations hidden in the park, as well as a map of this state park!
//Can you find KING KONG in this rock formation above? What a fun scavenger hunt throughout the park to find all the cool rock formations!
#2: THE CREOSOTE BUSH The creosote bush is found throughout the park, as it is usually found in desert areas. The creosote bush covers about 70% of the Mojave Desert. The creosote bush is very important to this desert environment, as certain reptiles and amphibians use this specific bush as a food source or even burrow underneath it to avoid the sun.
An interesting fact about the creosote bush is that after the rain hits the plant, the leaves give off a very distinct smoky smell. Curious to see if could smell this distinct smell, I decided to check it out. If you cup the leaf in your hands and breath air onto the plant’s leaves to create moisture, you can instantly smell the burnt smell. I was amazed!
If you look really closely, you may even find mistletoe attached to the creosote bush. Mistletoe as a plant is a hemiparasite, meaning it carries out photosynthesis while obtaining additional nutrients and water from the host plant upon which it grows. The creosote bush plays host to these slow-growing invaders. It certainly gives a new perspective for our holiday decorations of mistletoe! In the picture below, if you look below the red rock, you can see a few creosote bushes at the base of the rock formation.
#3: PETROGLYPHS
Check out these details of the petroglyphs left behind years ago from the one of the Valley of Fire’s first inhabitants. It is believed that the park’s first occupants were a Basketmaker group about 2,500 years ago, as this is evident from the remnants of their petroglyphs carved into the rocks from long ago.
Looking at the petroglyphs was one of the highlights of the park. If you look closely, you can see how detailed the drawings are thousands of years later. In this specific part of the range of rocks, it is evident that the drawing left within the petroglyphs symbolized water. If you follow the messages left in the rock around this range, the messages lead to a water source. These messages were created years ago to guide other members of past tribes by giving them information in this form of communication. What is a petroglyph?! It's just a rock carving -- especially a prehistoric one. You've heard of hieroglyphs, right? The difference between the two is that hieroglyphs are more of a writing system but petroglyphs are the actual carvings in the rocks.
#4: RAINBOW VISTA
The portion of the park marked Rainbow Vista represents an area of the park that allows visitors to see for miles! It was given the name Rainbow Vista due to the many different colored rocks in this area. Specifically, Rainbow Vista is a viewpoint in the Valley of Fire State Park where the road reaches the top of a low ridge, revealing a large area of multi-colored rocks that stretch for miles. It is a great place to take pictures, as it shows how large this valley really is.
Pictured here are the famous red sandstone rocks along with the gray limestone rocks in the background. Beyond that ridge, is the state of Arizona. This is a perfect spot to climb on of the rock formations that overlook the valley. In fact, once you see the sign marked Rainbow Vista, park your car on the right side of the road in the designated parking lot. To the right of the parking lot is a sloped ridge you can climb. It wasn't terribly tedious -- it was harder coming down that going up; however, if you take your time and watch your footing, the climb is worth the view. I was amazed at how far I could see! The colors were bright and diverse, as the blue skies and sunlight framed the rock formations perfectly.
#5: CONNECTION TO HOLLYWOOD FILMS
Due to the beautiful rugged terrain, there have been several movies filmed within the park. The view in the below photograph actually was the background for one of the Star Trek films. If you look closely, you can see where the red rocks meet the gold rocks. The movie set of Star Trek placed a bridge here and used this scenery for their movie. The environment of the red rocks easily resembles an environment that does not belong to planet Earth — perfect for those movies that needed to look like Mars or something out of this world!
Beyond this ridge, there was a sign that paid homage to several additional Hollywood films that were filmed within the Valley of Fire. These included Total Recall,The Professionals, The Good Son, Breakdown, Beast Master, When Fools Rush In, 1,000,000 Years BC, Stephen King’s The Stand, Kill Me Again, Father Hood, Ballad of Cable Hogue, and Transformers.
Thanks to several of the movies that were filmed here, there are now roads that allow easy access throughout the state park without parking your vehicle and hiking for miles. In fact, if you're really adventurous, find the parking lot with this "Valley of Fire Goes Hollywood" sign within the park (remember, if you can't find it, pick up that map at the Visitor's Center!). Park your car and head out for a hike. Rumor has it that some of the movie sets are still located beyond the rocks! It was too expensive to export the sets in and out, so it was very typical for directors to leave parts of their movie sets on site.
#6: BIG HORN SHEEP
If you keep your eyes peeled throughout the park, you might even run across a Big Horn Sheep! They are a bit hard to spot, but they usually are found around vegetation and the plant life, as they are searching for food. They blend in -- so keep an eye out!
Before I took this photo, there were actually two sheep looking for food among the rocks. The sheep in this picture moved towards the road and attempted to come closer to our group. We were pretty stoked! Know that big horn males are called rams, and female sheep are called ewes.
If you look closely, you can see the horns on this sheep. This is a male, as it is evident of the size of it’s horns. A bighorn ram's horns can weigh 30 pounds—more than all the bones in his body combined! Females also have horns, but they are of smaller size.
Big Horn Sheep are found anywhere from the Rocky Mountains in Canada to the desert in the Southwest. They are relatives of goats and have split hooves that help them balance, as well as rough hoof bottoms for natural grip. These attributes, along with keen vision, help them move easily about rugged mountain terrain.
#7: RED ROCK What makes this park stand out from other state parks? One of the top features of this park is definitely the massive red rocks! You can't take your eyes off the bright colors. After strolling through the park to view these red rocks, it's pretty evident how Valley of Fire received it’s name. Characterized by red rocks, the name Valley of Fire was coined by a traveling AAA official who was heading through the park at sunset. This official said that ‘the entire valley looked like it was on fire’. It was given this name due to the red sandstone formations appearing to be on fire as the reflection of the sun’s rays hit the entire valley of rock.
Although it can be super hot in this part of the desert at midday, you have to see the sun strike the rocks. I would completely agree with this traveling official -- it looks like the valley really is only fire!
One of the items I find interesting about the history of Valley of Fire State Park is that the bright red rock formations are actually sandstone. These rock formations were formed due to fault shifting and extensive wind and water erosion through the centuries.
Did you know? The massive 8,500 acres of this sandstone and limestone rock was public domain and given to the state of Nevada in 1934. It became Nevada’s first state park! The park received it’s legal designation from the Nevada State Legislature in 1935. Now, the park has grown to encompass an area of 40,000 acres of multi-colored rock.
#8: THE VISITOR'S CENTER
Feel like an adventure? Ask at the Visitor's Center for information regarding specific recommended hikes based on the current temperatures and terrain.
One of the best parts about the Visitor's Center is that there are clean bathrooms inside the building! There are also men and women bathrooms located to the left of the building, but believe me -- the ones inside are cleaner. There is also a small gift shop located within the building, so pick up a few souvenirs or those healthy Cliff bars for your hiking adventure!
The staff at the Visitor's Center can also tell you about the accommodations within the park. Did you know? There are RV sites with power and water hookups available. There are also two campgrounds with a combined total of 72 units. Campsites have shaded tables, grills, water, and restrooms. Campsites are first-come, first serve. Know that a camping limit of 14 days in a 30-day period is enforced. Bringing a large group? Information about program scheduling, as well as special group presentations can be arranged. Contact the Visitor's Center for more information! They provide a wealth of information!
#9: PICNIC AREAS
There are several shaded areas with restrooms located within the park, as well as many places to have lunch with a stellar view. We stumbled upon this cool house built within the rock next to one of the picnic shelters. What a surprise! Although this structure was man-made, it was very neat how it blended in with it's surroundings.
As we ate lunch, we enjoyed being entertained by the super-fast chipmunks that came right up to us! Of course they were very curious of our presence and wanted to be fed our sandwich scraps. They were so fun to watch!
After enjoying your time in the shade, go check out the shelter within the rocks. The best view is looking through the inside window at the view of the valley. What a neat find!
#10: STELLAR VIEWS
It goes without saying of how gorgeous these views were! We lucked out on a beautiful day to explore the park. What's the trick? Our tour guide picked us up really early, so that we would beat the other tour buses that visit through the park. As you can see in all of these photos, practically no one else was there! Get to the park early.
Know that the park is open seven days a week, 365 days a year. The Visitor's Center opens at 8:30 in the morning and closes at 4:30 in the afternoon. The rest of the park closes at sunset.
The blue skies gave the perfect backdrop to these stellar views. Luckily, Nevada doesn't usually have much rain, so if you plan accordingly, you should be okay weather-wise.
Pack a sandwich, bring lots of water. Grab those shoes and get ready for adventure! You will love exploring through this vast park. Every corner of the park is worth the trip for the views!
