Valley of Fire State Park

The Valley of Fire State Park is a Nevada State Park NE of Las Vegas.

From the park brochure, "The Valley of Fire derives its name from red sandstone formations, formed from great shifting sand dunes during the age of dinosaurs, 150 million years ago."

"Complex uplifting and faulting of the region, followed by extensive erosion have created the present landscape."

Our first stop was the Beehives.  I thought I would lounge on the rock to give some size perspective.

Nolan thought this was a good place to take a photo of the car.



"The area plant community is dominated by widely spaced creosote bush burro brush and brittlebush."

The Visitor Center.

Double-click to enlarge for reading.

Heading North of the Visitor Center

Time for a walk.

I believe this is a datura plant with one flower bloomed and several ready to bloom.

Some of the interesting shapes caused by erosion.

Some of the petroglyphs along this trail.

You'll probably have to enlarge this photo to see the small bird.  It was slightly larger than a humming bird.

A side view of the bird that is slightly harder to see.

Mouse's Tank is named for a renegade who used the area as a hideout in the 1890's.  The sun is shining on the left wall so it looks like the basin has an outlet but it doesn't.  This natural basin is where water collect after rainfalls, sometimes remaining for months.  It was dry when we were there. 

A small flower has grown on the side of the rocks.

Arches and other interesting features are common in the sandstone.

This is the view from Rainbow Vista.  There are many colors in the rock.

We stopped at the Seven Sisters picnic area for our sandwich lunch.   I picked out four of the rocks to represent the four sisters in my immediate family.

Nolan got this great photo of a Chuckwalla lizard.  It's probably a foot long.  The biggest lizard we saw in the park.