Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada

[Terri French]

Last week we spent the week in St. George, Utah with our family. On Wednesday, Greg and I decided to take a day drive to Valley of Fire State Park, in Nevada. We got there about noon and stayed for a few hours. It was a clear, blue sky day and the worst possible photography conditions. But, we loved the park. We were able to do three small hikes.

Even though the photos are mediocre because of the conditions, I thought you might like to see what types of things there are to do there, for those who haven't visited. It was very crowded the day we were there. I highly recommend this park. I want to go back on a better day at a better time of day during the off season. There were several more hikes that we didn't have time to do. The hikes we went on were all around 1.5 miles or less each, round trip.

#1 Old Cabins that visitors used to stay in.

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#2 Rainbow Vista Trail

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#3 End of the trail...Rainbow Vista Trail

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#4 Hiking in the sand at Rainbow Vista Trail

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#5 Rainbow Vista Trail

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#6 Desert Mountain Sheep on Rainbow Vista Trail. All I had with me was my 24-70 f4 lens.

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#7 Fire Wave Trail. We have to go back because we realized when we got home that we didn't actually see the fire wave. We were pressed for time and realized later that we hurried too fast, because we didn't hike far enough.

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#8 View from Fire Wave Trail

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#9 Fire Wave Trail

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#10 Fire Wave Trail....the colors in the rocks are incredible.

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#11 White Dome Trail. We were looking back at the steep descent we had just made.

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#12 Slot Canyon on White Dome Trail

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#13 Desert Bighorn Sheep high on ridge on White Dome Trail

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#14 So many different colors

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#15 I wanted to get a shot on this road. We will have to go back to do this. It was too crowded and we needed to hurry back to a family dinner in St. George.

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[Butlerkid]

Delightful images, Terri! Amazing timing! Just last night I was researching this park for a possible visit during our stay in Las Vegas in a week or so. It may be too hot by the time we get there so I am considering a late afternoon, early evening visit and hoping for a nice sunset.

This is the best site I've found so far with info on photographing this park.

Thank you for posting this!!

 

[Terri French]

Delightful images, Terri! Amazing timing! Just last night I was researching this park for a possible visit during our stay in Las Vegas in a week or so. It may be too hot by the time we get there so I am considering a late afternoon, early evening visit and hoping for a nice sunset.

This is the best site I've found so far with info on photographing this park.

Thank you for posting this!!

So glad I posted these today!! You should go for sure. Give yourself plenty of time to see it. There was more to see than I was expecting. There are some really nice picnic areas. The visitor's center was worth exploring, although we only gave it a few minutes. We will be returning to the park for sure. Thank you for the link to the website. I will check it out. The one hike that was so hot was the fire wave hike and it was only 69 degrees outside. You are hiking on rocks and the sun reflecting off of them was so warm.

 

[Hylander]

Outstanding series, Terri!

 

[Terri French]

Outstanding series, Terri!

Thank you, Bill!!

 

[Mitchell]

Terri, these are great. We briefly traveled through there on our last trip to St. George. The place was really crowded but was still quite beautiful.

 

[alexf]

Very nice. Love Valley of Fire.
Visited two or three times.

 

[Pa]

That looks like a very interesting place, and your photographs show it well in spite of the conditions. I would put this on the list, but alas, Mrs. T. is getting less adventurous as we "mature".

 

[Minuteman3]

Great shots ... been there a couple of times and enjoyed it a lot.

Thanks!!

Ken

 

[Mike Buckley]

My wife and I only had enough time to drive through the park. Your images make me wish we had taken the time to hike the trails.

 

[Mike Buckley]

OFF TOPIC

I was researching this park for a possible visit during our stay in Las Vega

Also check out Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. It's only about 30 minutes from Las Vegas. I've hiked three trails there -- Calico Hills Loop Trail, Calico Tanks Trail and Lost Creek Trail.

 

[alexf]

That looks like a very interesting place, and your photographs show it well in spite of the conditions. I would put this on the list, but alas, Mrs. T. is getting less adventurous as we "mature".

It is very close to Las Vegas, easy access, and you can drive and not venture in trails much if not up to it.
A must visit place while in Vegas.

 

[Pa]

It is very close to Las Vegas, easy access, and you can drive and not venture in trails much if not up to it.
A must visit place while in Vegas.

Thanks, Alex. Hiking is not a problem; we do it every day here in the mountains. But Vegas is definitely not on the list. Been there, done that, don't care to go again.

But I do appreciate your endorsement, along with Terri's excellent photos.

 

[bsinc1962]

Even though the conditions weren't optimal you captured the spirit of it very well.

 

[Terri French]

Terri, these are great. We briefly traveled through there on our last trip to St. George. The place was really crowded but was still quite beautiful.

Sounds like our trip.....brief but beautiful!!

 

[Terri French]

Very nice. Love Valley of Fire.
Visited two or three times.

Thanks, Alex. I'm sure we will go back someday.

 

[Terri French]

That looks like a very interesting place, and your photographs show it well in spite of the conditions. I would put this on the list, but alas, Mrs. T. is getting less adventurous as we "mature".

I imagine we won't have too many more years of being adventurous. I'm glad you liked the photos.

 

[Terri French]

Great shots ... been there a couple of times and enjoyed it a lot.

Thanks!!

Ken

Thank you, Ken!! I wondered if there would be a lot of cafe members who have seen it.

 

[Terri French]

My wife and I only had enough time to drive through the park. Your images make me wish we had taken the time to hike the trails.

There are certainly more hikes I would like to take. At least you got to get a taste of the park.

 

[Terri French]

Thanks, Alex. Hiking is not a problem; we do it every day here in the mountains. But Vegas is definitely not on the list. Been there, done that, don't care to go again.

But I do appreciate your endorsement, along with Terri's excellent photos.

I agree about Vegas. It's not my kind of place, either.