Runnnnn Forest runnnnn – quickly! The valley is on fire in Nevada at Valley of Fire State Park! A short one hour trip from the bustling city of Las Vegas will land you here in an appealing, yet unsure, landscape. It’s part desert & part Martian planet – including cacti who love the harsh heat and out-of-this-world sandstone formations towering above in all directions. The combination of wind, rain, and natural erosion over millenia have created this perfect (albeit HOT) little paradise at Valley of Fire State Park.
Table of Contents
We’ve organized all of the sections & park highlights below in alphabetical order. There’s also a handy table of contents to help you navigate around this read quickly! We hope that you put Valley of Fire State Park on your list if you ever happen to be around Las Vegas, Nevada!
- Table of Contents
- If the threat of fire hasn’t scared you away yet…
- Atlatl Rock
- Beehives
- Campgrounds – Atlatl and Arch Rock
- Oh, and we left a small surprise behind:
- Hidy Holes
- Elephant Rock
- Ready, Set, Action! 🎥
- 🔥 Fire Wave 🔥
- Doggie Adventures in the Valley 🐶
- Mouse’s Tank
- Natural Arch
- However Dark the Night, Tomorrow’s Light Always Follows
- One Punch Man!
- Petrified Logs
- Petroglyphs
- Potato Chip Rock?
- Our First Slot Canyon
- So … You Made it Through the Fire?
- Let’s connect on social media!
- Look here for similar reads:
If the threat of fire hasn’t scared you away yet…
then let’s proceed into the Valley of Fire, but prepare to get burned.
Here’s a map to help you navigate your way around the park!
This is literally the same map we used to get around the park and plan our day trips. There’s no cell signal in the park so be prepared to go “old-school” and use your paper map & navigate like Lewis and Clark. You can conveniently download this map by clicking on the image above.
If you check out the map above, you’ll see you can enter from either the East or the West side of the park. Either way, there’s a park ranger operated pay gate at each end of the park so that you can pay the admission fee to get in. We also recommend asking for all of the paper resources they can give you. Usually this will land you the above map, detailed trail guides, recent local wildlife sightings, and things to do in the area nearby. Park rangers are your friends!
Atlatl Rock
Atlatl Rock is the name for this naturally-occurring rock formation, and there’s good reason. An atlatl (pronounced at-latl) in history, is a stick used by some indigenous peoples of North America to propel a spear or dart. What’s even cooler is that this formation includes scaffolding built by the park which allows you to get up close and personal with petroglyphs (ancient rock carvings by native tribes). These figures are one of the major pieces left behind by the ancient cultures who once resided here – potentially thousands of years ago.
Beehives
What’s that in the distance? BIZZZZ! Oh, wow! I didn’t know that bees could survive and thrive in the desert. On closer examination, they’re not beehives. But they do look just like them!
Over time, the wind has eroded these rocks into nature’s “perfect” shape – a circle. At this stop, you can literally park your car and hop right out to see them – with no athleticism required at all. The beehives are located directly inside the western entrance gate and make a great first stop in the park.
Campgrounds – Atlatl and Arch Rock
We saw multiple big-horn sheep walk through the campground, they seem used to campers and generally uninterested in our presence. I was lucky enough to capture this shot of them grazing on the mountain top the next morning. Although they seemed quite benign, be sure to keep your distance from them and their big horns to avoid a potential “ouch”!
We stayed at Atlatl campground, which is first-come first-served. Yep, they don’t take campground reservations. There are a few spots with full RV hookups (and these go quick!) but most are “dry-camping” – this means no power, water, or sewer connections – a.k.a. “hike-in” or primitive camping only. This probably doesn’t interest most people who like to plan their trips months in advance or go “glamping” but hey, when you live life on the edge, the reward sometimes outweighs the risk. And we knew the reward of Valley of Fire certainly would be worth the small inconvenience. The pictures of this hotspot destination look incredible online.
We were, however, unlucky enough to watch the last RV spot get taken. We ended up squeezing into a site with no water or power, but that’s fine because we are set up for boondocking (camping without any hookups & being self-sufficient – almost like you would in a tent).
Arch Rock campground is definitely geared more to your purists. We didn’t stay here, but I can tell you that tent camping or #vanlife is recommended at this site with most sites being hike-in only. Not only do they not have any hookups, but the spots are much smaller here as well. Either way, the views are incredible in either campground and you will be surrounded by incredible sandstone formations.
Oh, and we left a small surprise behind:
It’s probably been found by now, but we left some hidden “artifacts” from our brand among the formations in the Atlatl campground. Good luck hunting!
Hidy Holes
Listen, this section was titled this way intentionally. How else would you name this? lol.
Maybe my girlfriend, dog, and I are just Luna-tics (Hah! Our dog’s name is Luna) but we found plenty of cool looking “hidy holes” all over the park. You can’t miss them. You’ll see them on every hike, every trail, and in most little sections of rock if you keep your eyes peeled. They’re plenty of fun for you to take EPIC pictures in and take a break from the intense heat.
Elephant Rock
Ever seen an elephant in a desert? No? Well us neither, until today.
Dad joke of the day: How do you eat an elephant?
One bite at a time.
Ready, Set, Action! 🎥
You can’t avoid how beautiful and “other-worldly” feeling this place is. Of course, being near Las Vegas and Hollywood, many big names have been attracted here from all around the entertainment industry. Plenty of film scenes were shot within the valley:
Viva Las Vegas starring Elvis Presley had multiple shots filmed in the park for the racing scenes in the movie.
The above brick wall is the only prop that remains from the shooting of The Professionals in 1966.
The outside Mars scenes from Total Recall starring Arnold Schwarzenegger were almost totally shot in Valley of Fire.
The scenes from Planet Veridian III from Star Trek Generations were shot here in 1994.
🔥 Fire Wave 🔥
This wouldn’t be a top-notch blog unless I squeezed in one of my childhood passions, RuneScape. If you didn’t play this browser based game 10-15 years back then you just simply will not understand the phenomenon. RuneScape was one of those types of games that kept you coming back for more. There was constant progression, hundreds of quests, over twenty skills with branching paths of gameplay, and also it was multiplayer. You could talk with friends and new people on the internet all the time … and this was early at the dawn of the 2000’s (notably 2004-2007) where we used AOL (America On-Line) dial-up internet and AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) to interact. Oh, how times were different. Many of the younger generation are already forgetting how hard it was before the internet! Some of my favorite child hood memories came from playing this game along with plenty of friends, and grinding away as a teenager. Man, what a feeling it was to escape reality … try out Old School RuneScape today if you know what’s good for you! 😜
Anyways, back to the main point of this section … Fire Wave! Fire Wave is a medium-level fire spell in RuneScape that does decent damage to armored foes.
The Fire Wave spell from RuneScape:
Video games aside, these IRL (in real-life, an internet gaming term) fire waves were incredible to see:
Doggie Adventures in the Valley 🐶
Whenever we go on a hike we love to take our pup with us (when permitted); luckily Valley of Fire trails are dog friendly! If you do decide to bring your pup on trail at Valley of Fire be sure to check the temperature of the ground and rock as the high temperatures in the valley can quickly cause damage to their soft paw pads. Doggie boots are also a great option for hot days. We did our hike in the early morning so temperatures weren’t a problem for us. But the most important thing to consider is WATER. Bring lots and lots – way more than you think you need for yourself AND your fury friend(s).
Here’s our cutie, Luna – she’s a year-and-a-half old chocolate Labrador Retriever crossed with a Chesapeake Bay Retriever. If you aren’t familiar with her breeds, she is basically known as a “duck dog” or “sporting dog” because of her natural instinct to retrieve ducks and other waterfowl when hunting. Do we hunt? No, not really. Does she hunt everything that moves? Yep, pretty much. She has more energy than three espressos and a bag full of sugar … and constantly keeps us on our toes. Taking her on hikes with us is a great way to let her get her energy out and let her “hunt” in nature – no ducks were harmed in the making of this blog.
Mouse’s Tank
While this area has a strange name, the story behind the name is even more obscure. A Southern Paiute Indian renegade who went by the tribal name, “Little Mouse,” used this area of Valley of Fire as a hideout in the 1890’s. He was accused of gunning down two prospectors along with many other crimes in the area. This natural oasis held two pothole”tanks” of water and provided a natural hiding spot for him to escape his captors. He was eventually found in the valley and killed while trying to escape his pursuers.
Natural Arch
Few things are as awe-inspiring as a natural arch in the desert. Towering high above the rocks below, this arch is a highlight of the park. I’ll let you & the scientists try to figure out how the inside of the arch has managed to disappear leaving the remaining arch shape intact. Somehow, this shape has managed to survive thousands of years without losing the battle its duking it out with – gravity.
However Dark the Night, Tomorrow’s Light Always Follows
Thanks to the lovely iPhone 11 Pro Max I have (yes, I know there are three year’s worth of newer iPhones now) I was able to capture this amazing shot from our spot at the Atlatl campground one night. Look closely to see a rock balancing on the top of the formation. It’s amazing to see the capability of technology even in this remote wilderness.
Within this image, you can count the individual stars in the night sky – just like the once great philosopher Plato did. And I promise that this picture isn’t edited, it’s shot raw with the iPhone 11 Pro Max night-mode feature. You can definitely see the night sky beautifully at night here, and we highly recommend camping at least one night to witness it.
While we were there, the moon was almost full, so we could see fairly well at night; well enough that we were able to do a few short hikes around the campground without flashlights or other artificial light sources.
One Punch Man!
Have you seen the rants and raves about the anime One Punch Man? No? It’s fine, I’ll give you a quick summary here!
One Punch Man defeats all of the bad guys in the world by punching them – one impactful time. The anime is a hilarious comedy about saving the world, but looking cool while doing it.
I’ve recaptured in perfect detail how to defeat someone with one punch. Look at my form, and the velocity of punchy-ness. Spot on. I showed that rock who’s boss … and who says that heroes wear capes?
Petrified Logs
Millions of years ago, it is understood by scientists that the entire valley (and most of the continent) was covered in lakes, trees, and animals. Now, very desolate – as it is now a desert climate – not many trees or animals can be found here. Small bushes are sparse and most animals spend the hot days underground.
A petrified log is just what it sounds like – and it’s kind of freaky too. Instead of being wood like you expect normal trees to be, over time the trees that were found here have transformed into fossils.
Petrified wood is indeed a fossil, like animals bones. It forms when plant material is buried by sediment and protected from decay due to oxygen and organisms. Then, groundwater rich in dissolved solids flows through the sediment, replacing the original plant material with silica, calcite, pyrite, or another inorganic material such as opal. The result is a fossil of the original woody material that often exhibits preserved details of the bark, wood, and cellular structures.
Some specimens of petrified wood are such accurate preservations that people do not realize they are fossils until they pick them up and are shocked by their weight.
Petroglyphs
Petroglyphs represent an ancient language of yester-year .
On close inspection, you can see big-horned sheep (I put pictures of some of the sheep we saw in the Atlatl Campground section of this blog), a family or tribe, water, and many other depictions of the natural environment found here thousands of years ago. Scientists have done extensive research here to decode these drawings to understand the people that once lived here.
It makes you wonder what future generations will think of the English language and the notebooks with pen and paper writings we will leave behind.
Potato Chip Rock?
Someone call Lays … I think their potato chip ran away! What appears to be a distorted sandstone potato chip is actually a very thin rock holding on for dear life. Nature often finds ways to make things uniquely beautiful – all it takes is a little imagination. This is a wonderful depiction of that.
Our First Slot Canyon
Slot canyons are a fun phenomenon commonly found out west. Being from the east coast, our tourist hearts leapt for joy when we found this one along the White Dome trail. Simply put, slot canyons are spaces between two rock faces where the rock on each side narrowly misses touching each other. They’re nature’s playground and many enjoy hiking, climbing, and squeezing through these tight spaces. Sometimes you can find hidden areas to explore like waterfalls or caves.
Luckily for our first, this one was pretty easy to walk through and only required a few side-steps near the end – no squeezing necessary. Although, it was beautiful every single step of the way and we enjoyed geeking out over the rock stratification. Something about looking up and only seeing a narrow stretch of blue sky is mesmerizing.
The entrance to the slot canyon
So … You Made it Through the Fire?
Valley of Fire State Park got it’s name for obvious reasons – it’s hot, the sandstone is bright red, and at sunset the entire place glows a warm red, as if the valley were on fire. But there’s something else hidden in this valley.
It’s sense of whimsy, of curiosity, and child-like play around every corner. Each turn of the trail beckons, “What will you discover next?” There’s incredible vistas, slot canyons, dry falls, petroglyphs, towering bee hives, unique plants, rock formations, miles of hiking trails, and incredible creatures to discover.
We often say that nature is mankind’s’ playground and this park has been one of the coolest we’ve explored so far. If you’re in the Las Vegas area, step away from the glitz and development and see what lies just an hour up Interstate 15. It makes sense that over half a million people visit each year to discover the wonder of nature within – and we’re glad we got to be some of them.
No Place Like Gone 