Valley of Fire, NV
We spent four days hiking in the Valley of Fire. Since we had no Internet access while there, we’ll show some of our experiences in two blogs, this one and one more.
About two miles from the campground we turned north and drive past the visitor’s center. After going up a fairly steep grade the road began to wind through beautiful red sandstone for about two miles.
FIRE WAVE
A few miles further up the road we parked and hiked a short distance to a swirling rock formation called Fire Wave. The pictures are sufficient to explain the name.
WHITE DOME
Returning to the Jeep, we drove about two miles to where the road ends to hike into an area known as White Dome. After a very short hike, you can climb on to a huge rock area with great views of the rock formations all around you.
Since it was lunch time, we climbed up a small rock to sit and enjoy lunch while watching groups of hikers below in the canyon.
Lunch Perch
As we enjoyed our meal, a bus load of “elderly” people on a tour came down the trail below us. Since it was a large group and they were moving slowly, we decided to wait a bit before continuing our hike through the White Domes. We decided to make our own trail and hiked up the rocks behind us for about a quarter mile. It was a good decision as we were treated to some fantastic views.
We hiked back to the trail and continued through the rock formations, spotting a number of arches and tunnels in the rock.
THE DUCK
When Pam and Jessica visited the park the previous week, the ranger at the visitor’s center circled on a map a hike down a dirt road blocked from vehicle traffic. Pam couldn’t remember what was down at the end, but we decided to check it out. After a mile or so we came to a wash (dried creek bed) and hiked down it for a bit. We didn’t see anything that jogged her memory but we did see the interesting formation pictured below.
When we returned to the visitor’s center later in the week, we asked what was down that road. A ranger said that if you hiked down the wash a bit you would see a rock formation that looked like a duck!
If you get this far in this post you’ve probably had your fill of rock formations, so we’ll wrap up for now. Look for one more blog on the Valley of Fire . . .
Absolutely beautiful!
Wow, Wow, you have convinced us, we will be there. It’s amazing we’ve been to Vegas a hundred times (not on the strip but visit to family) and we never heard of this. Thank you for the beautiful pictures. Amazing Rocks!
Thanks to blogs and friends is how we discovered this great place. Totally changed our plans to spend time there. So glad we did.
Amazing! We will definitely be going there for some hiking during our stay at Lake Mead in a few weeks. The fire wave rocks are like nothing I’ve ever seen before and I would love to find that duck!
Valley is an easy drive and SO worth the time. Hope you can get there. I know there is boondocking outside the park, also. They also have two types of camping in the park…one with hook ups and a great one for smaller rvs and no hook ups. The duck is down a dirt road that is now closed to cars about a half mile. It is on the road to White Dome. The ranger in the visitor center told us about the duck. The park map doesn’t have this trail marked.
Its been almost 20 years since I was last there and you’ve convinced me to return. Because of little kids, we were limited on our hiking abilities. Thanks for sharing
With children grown now, you’ll have a wonderful time exploring in the park. A must for your list!
Absolutely love the fire wave. The contrast of the red rocks and the blue sky is just breathtaking. I really do miss those parks out west, but at this rate it will be a few years before we make it back out that way. Thanks for the virtual trip in the meantime.
I understand! It took us two years fulltiming before we headed west. Just too much see in this country!
Glad you came along for the ride!
Great pics…. We may be in Vegas area in late April and will have to check out the Valley of Fire. We are headed to Catalina SP today.
Have fun at Catalina. Make sure you take pictures of any crested. I know there a few there.
Valley of Fire was an easy drive from Vegas. Definitely well worth the time.