My 6yo and I spent the afternoon on New Year’s Day at Valley of Fire State Park, northeast of North Las Vegas, Nevada. This park is known for its fiery red sandstone and rich history and the views do not disappoint.
About the Park
Valley of Fire State Park was established in 1935 as Nevada’s first state park. The first facilities and campgrounds were built by the Civilian Conservation Corp in 1933 and the park has grown from about 8,500 acres to more than 40,000 acres today.
The area is abundant in creosote bush, burro bush and brittlebush, as well as several species of cactus. Wildlife include a handful of birds such as the raven, house finch, sage sparrow and roadrunner, plus lizards, snakes, coyotes, kit foxes, spotted skunks, black tailed jackrabbits and antelope ground squirrels.
The visitor center has exhibits on the geology, ecology, and history of the park and surrounding area and has a small gift shop. The ranger station is also inside, and we stopped here to pick up a Junior Ranger booklet. Restrooms are provided nearby and there are a couple short hiking trails that begin at the visitor center. There are also several picnicking areas throughout the park.
Trails and Hiking
We headed straight to Mouse’s Tank Trail from the visitor center where we were lucky enough to find parking on such a busy day. This was by far our favorite trail. The red rock was beautiful and we fell in love with the blue bushes along the sandy trail.
From Mouse’s Tank we continued the drive up White Domes Road to White Domes Loop where we failed to find parking, then meandered our way back down and stopped Parking Area #2 to walk over the sandstone and take some pictures. We stopped again at the Visitor Center to complete the Junior Ranger booklet and get a badge and then made our way over to the campgrounds to explore Atlatl Rock and Arch Rock.
Camping In and Near the Park
There are two campgrounds within the park, Atatl Campground and Arch Rock Campground, containing 72 sites with picnic tables, grills, water, and restrooms. About 15-20 of those sites have water and electric hookups for RVs. The campgrounds are in an excellent location within the park and boast fantastic views of the multi-colored sandstone.
We camped outside of the park at an area known as Valley of Fire West, a BLM owned property that is an excellent area for dry camping. Rigs of any size can find a spot to park here and there is plenty of room for everyone not to have neighbors if they so choose. The entrance to the area is easily missed but is marked by a large rock half way between the 6 and 7 mile markers on the south side of the road (to the right if coming from the interstate, to the left if coming from Valley of Fire State Park).
Since we dry camped, we had to go into the state park for water and throw our trash. Be aware that there is a $10 daily entrance fee so you are basically paying to use the dump station every day you enter. Propane is available at the truck stop located at the junction of Valley of Fire Highway and Interstate 15, a fact we were thankful for since the days were cool enough to keep our furnace running all day. We stayed in this area through the Christmas and New Year’s holidays and found it to be a great area to access the interstate for an easy drive into the city.
Valley of Fire was a great stop and a must see while you’re in the area. Have you been there? What did you think? Are there other places we should visit next time we’re here? Let us know in the comments! We look forward to hearing from you!
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