March 26, 2012 -- Valley of Fire State Park is the oldest and largest state park in Nevada. The park is open year-round, and the entrance fee is $10 per vehicle. There are two ways to get to the park. One is to take Exit 75 off of I-15 , and the other is from Lake Mead National Recreation Area. If you access it from the lake, you have to pay the fee at the self-pay station.
Nathan and I got to the park from Lake Mead National Recreation Area. Because there's a self-pay station there, we didn't get the park's brochure or map to plan our visit. Also, there is no clear map provided at any view points. We just wandered around by ourselves, hoping to find the Visitor Center or the ranger's station to ask for the map.
I suppose the Valley of Fire got its name from its thousands of red sandstone formations. It really looks like fire when the sun is shining down to these rocks. Nathan read somewhere that the sandstone formed from sand dunes millions of years ago. I imagine that the Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park in Utah we visited the day before must be just what Valley of Fire looked like over a million years ago.
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| at the Elephant Rock |
Since there was no map or information, Nathan and I just drove around following the road. At least there is only one road in this part of the park, so we were able to enjoy the view along the way without fear of getting lost.
One of the interesting stops we made is at The Cabins. These three cabins were built in 1935 by The Civilian Conservation Corps (C.C.C.) for the campers and travelers visiting the park.
Another pretty spot is at the Seven Sisters. This is a nice picnic area for lunch; you can climb on the rock formations or walk around on the pink sand.
After wandering around for a while, we finally found the Visitor Center, but we were too late because it closed at 4:30 p.m. I just found out that this visitor center has exhibits on geology, ecology, prehistory, and history of the park. It would have been great if we had made it there on time. (It is open daily from 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.)
Not too far from the Visitor Center is the most interesting part of the park, called Mouse's Tank. There is a half-mile round-trip trail that leads you to many Indian petroglyphs. This sandy trail may not have signs telling you where to look for the petroglyphs, but you will find them easily enough if you pay attention to the black-moldy rocks.
At the end of the trail is a deep, narrow canyon that we couldn't pass through. We just turned around to the trailhead and continued our journey.
It was almost dark when we finished the hike at the Petroglyph Canyon Self-Guiding Trail. Nathan and I decided not to stop often at the other spots to make sure that we didn't get back too late to town for dinner. We drove through Scenic Loop Road, and it was gorgeous! Too bad there wasn't enough sunlight for me to take good photos. By the time we reached Hwy 15, it was completely dark, and we didn't have dinner till 8:30 p.m. at our casino resort. If I ever come back here again, I will enter the park from Exit 75 on I-15 instead of Lake Mead so that I can explore the parts of the park I missed on this visit.
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| We saw a lot of desert big horn sheep on our way out of the park. It was too dark to get a good photo of them. |