Valley of Fire - June 27 & 28, 2019
From Bryce Canyon, we drove through Red Canyon, then headed towards Nevada on I-15, which took us through a little slice of Arizona on the way. Not wanting to be outdone by the scenery in Utah, Arizona provided us with a beautiful drive through Virgin River Gorge on I-15. Our destination for the day was Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada, not far from Lake Mead.
We want to thank Slim Potatohead for his YouTube video titled “Boondocking Nevada: Valley of Fire”. Before watching that video, we had never heard of Valley of Fire State Park. After watching the video, we made sure we added it to our itinerary and we were not disappointed. Valley of Fire rivals most of the national parks in unique landscapes and beauty.
We arrived at Valley of Fire about midday, in the heat of the day, and went straight to the Atlatl Campground in the park. Valley of Fire does not take reservations, and unlike Slim Potatohead, we really didn’t want to boondock for the next two nights. This was summer, in the desert, and it was hot, around 100 degrees. When we arrived at the campground, we discovered that getting a site would not be a problem. There were not too many others like us who thought camping in the desert in the summer was a good idea. We plugged our camper van into the electricity for our site, cranked the air conditioner hoping it would work as it was the first time we used it, and hung out inside our van on our laptops until dinner. We realized we wanted to add another small USB powered fan to help circulate the air inside the van, but the window shades that we had made seemed to do a good job at keeping quite a bit of heat out. We only put the shades in on the sunny side of the van, allowing us to see the wonderful view out the other side.
The setting of the campground was gorgeous, surrounded by colorful rock formations. Even if all we saw was the campground, we would have felt it was worth the park admission price. The campground had a self registration station. We did not read the instructions carefully and thought we needed to pay the day use fee for each day we were there in addition to the camping site with electric hookup fees. After we turned in our money, we realized that we had overpaid by $30 for the three days and two nights that we were there. It was still worth it.
Camping was $20 per night for sites with no hookups (there were some people doing that with their tents - bless them) and $30 per night for sites with power and water. Each night of camping includes the vehicle day pass fee good through check-out the next day. It was 3 days of $10 day passes that we overpaid. The campground had flush toilets and free showers along with the spectacular views. Don't expect much in the way of cell service if at all. At Atlatl campground there was a paid wifi service available.
After dinner when the temperatures started to cool down, we went for a drive along the main park road to check out some more of the sights, such as the Seven Sisters, the Cabins, and the Petrified Logs (east). There was a surprise waiting for us at the Visitor Center. In the landscaped gardens in front of the building was a small herd of big horn sheep and a quail. Between the wildlife and the colorful scenery, Right Buddy (RB) thought she was in photographer’s heaven. Sitting out in the evenings was quite pleasant watching the sky slide by and the big horn sheep wander through the campsite.
Slim Potatohead had shown a hike called Fire Wave. RB did not want to miss it. So, despite all the park signs warning against hiking due to the heat, we got up at 5:30 am so we could be on the trail by 6:30 am to try to beat the heat. The 1.5 mile hike was definitely worth it. The colors and unusual formations were stunning. We completed the hike before 7:30 am with no ill effects, but we did take lots of water with us.
After our hike, we drove the rest of the White Domes Road and the Fire Canyon Road and stopped at the overlooks for the views. As the day started getting hot again, we drove out of the park and into the small town of Overton where we hung out in the air conditioning of McDonald’s for most of the day to get some online work done, with a couple of short excursions to the grocery store and hardware store for some needed supplies. We headed back to our campsite to assemble and eat a roasted beet salad before heading out again in the cooler temperatures of the evening to check out the rest of the park. The salad required no cooking as we had roasted the beets and steamed the eggs in the Instant Pot the evening before, after dark, outside on the picnic table.
The sights of the evening were the petroglyphs at Atlatl Rock, Arch Rock, the Petrified Logs (west), and the Beehives. So, after a day and a half, despite staying indoors during the heat of both days, we saw most of the park. Was there more to see if we were willing to go on more hiking trails? Yes, but that will have to wait for a different visit during a cooler time of year. Would we recommend going to Valley of Fire in the middle of the summer? No, but we were passing through the area and we certainly do not regret staying there. There were definitely no crowds of people to deal with while we were there and that free shower felt so good at the end of a hot day!
Check out our related video: Valley of Fire State Park NV June 27 - 28, 2019
(RB)