January 19, 2024
Valley of Fire State Park is north of Las Vegas. It took us around an hour to get there, not because of distance, but because lower speed limits. It is considered the state's first state park. We spent an enjoyable day driving the scenic roads and taking three hikes for a total of 3.5 to 4.0 miles of hiking.
Our first hike was the Mouse's Tank. The tank, meaning a natural spot in the rock that serves as a water tank, was indeed on the small side. For us the coolest thing on that short hike, about .75 miles out and back, was Enterprise Rock. Harold needed a Star Trek costume for that. As a side note for Trekkies, scenes from Star Trek Generations were filmed in the park.
The next hike was the Fire Wave hike. This hike, along with several others, is closed in the summer due to extreme heat. Fire Wave is a loop trail just shy of 2 miles. We had hoped to combine it with the White Domes Trail. However what Alltrails was showing as the connector trail was not a true trail. The park service had posted signs saying such.
Our final hike of the day was the White Domes Trail. It was a 1.1 mile loop trail. It was probably our favorite because of the short slot canyon. However, the trail probably had the most rock scrambling of the day.
All of the trails involved a lot of fine-grained loose sand. If you're thinking beach sand, you're probably about right. It's more tiring than you think. We were glad for hiking poles to help with balance and weight distribution. Bring another pair of shoes and socks. You'll be glad you did!
 |
| Enterprise Rock |
 |
| Looks like dried spilled milk |
 |
| Mouse Tank |
 |
| Stuck...stuck... (not really) |
 |
| Cool formations |
 |
| Waves of color |
 |
| In a wash area |
 |
| Slot area |
 |
| White domes hike |
 |
| Colors |
Where Are We Going Next?
No comments:
Post a Comment