Valley of Fire State Park

Valley of Fire is the state's oldest State Park. We've driven by several times, and driven through once, but this is the first time that we've stayed at Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada. It's popular as a day trip from Las Vegas but also has camping available. There is one loop that has power & water ($30) and two other loops that are dry. ($20) All of the sites are first come, first served.

Because the weather was perfect - up to the low 80's during the day - we elected to stay in the Arch Rock campground which is all dry. Many of the spaces are tucked into the rocks creating private alcoves, unlike the W/E area where there's no shade or privacy.

We drove right past Elephant Rock when we entered the park and didn't even notice it - then! I thought it was pretty amazing.

I've never studied geology, but I must admit I loved all the short hikes we did in the park. Around every corner you'd spot another rock with some interesting feature.

There are lots of trails in the park of varying links. We did several that were 1 to 1.5 miles to various places of interest. My favorite was the White Dome loop. The trail starts out very sandy and drops down through a narrow canyon

and then returns back through a short slot canyon. Turk went on strike...

We spotted several arches, including one hidden in a slot canyon that I wouldn't have found if it wasn't for a geocache nearby.

I enjoy petroglyphs and there are panels scattered around the park. The most popular panel now has stairs up to a viewing platform. I really liked the stairs that had been carved into the rock but they're now off-limits.

This park will get way too hot for me during the summer, but I'm looking forward to coming back sometime in the cooler months to do more exploring.

We successfully completed all seven of the Earthcaches in the park. Well worth the time!