Valley of Fire SP - Nevada

Overton, Nevada

Valle of Fire State Park 

Valley of Fire is one of my favorite state parks of any state.  The amount of color here is incredible!  The park is very compact with 2 roads running through it and most everything can be seen from the road or with a short hike (often less than 2 miles round trip).  Three days of exploring and you can pretty much see and do it all.  This was Nevada's first State Park.

There are two campgrounds within the park with bathrooms, showers and dump station.  Some sites have water and electric.  There are several sites that will accommodate larger rigs.

Our site was #17 with just a non-threaded water spigot, ramada, picnic table and fire pit.  It was $25.  If we were Nevada residents it would have only been $20.  I'm not a fan of the out-of-state resident fees.  At least it was only $5 here, but some states have crazy fees.  There are over 20 states that charge out-of-state fees.  At many you'll pay a $5-$10 DAILY vehicle fee and $20-$30 camping fee.  Those can be DOUBLE if you're out of state.  I think it's ridiculous.

Rick & Angie's site next to us.  All the sites are scattered with great red rock backgrounds.

Our first day we drove the park road West to East and stopped at many sites right along the road. 

So many arches, windows and really cool rock structures.

This is what I imagine the planet Mars would look like.

One stop is the Beehives.  Strange rock formations.

There are a couple areas to see some petrified logs.  While these logs were buried ground water carrying minerals filled the air spaces in the woody tissues.

There are the picnic areas in the Seven Sisters portion of the park next to some huge boulder/rocks.

You can see the Elephant Rock within a short distance but we chose to hike the loop trail thinking we could see the back side of it.  At least that's the impression the Ranger gave us.  Turns out, no, you cannot.  But it was a nice hike anyway.

Back around and we come to the parking lot.

The Cabins were built by the CCC.  They are constructed of native sandstone and were used for many years to shelter campers and travelers.

They all had unique fireplaceses in them.

Right behind the cabins are some petroglyphs if you're lucky enough to spot them.

Our first day out was a lot of fun. Tomorrow we'll get up early and head straight to the highlight of the park!