1/29 Valley of Fire State Park, NV

I have been here several times, but always enjoy going back for a week or two.  There are two ways to get here--the first is to drive north from Las Vegas on I-15, but my favorite is to drive north from the west entrance to Lake Mead National Recreation Area.  Just a few hundred feet after you go through the park entrance booth, you will see a sign directing you to make a left turn onto a road, Northshore Drive, that goes to the small town of Moapa Valley.  This road eventually becomes NV route 169, and is really beautiful.  No stores, gas stations, or anything else on it, but after about 30 miles, and before you get to the town, you will go through another gate leaving Lake Mead.  Just past this gate, you will find the park road that takes you to Valley of Fire.

A warning--Valley of Fire State Park is huge!  It is about 80 square miles and equidistant from both I-5 and NV 169/Northshore Drive.  It's about a 10 miles from from the west and a 4 mile drive from the east before you get to the park entrance gates and the prettiest part of the park.  

No camp store, so if you are camping, take everything you need.  And if you are just doing a day trip, the visitor center does have some cold drinks and snacks. Below is the eastern gate to the state park. 

The dark red Aztec Sandstone rocks, from which this state park gets its name, were formed by blowing sand during the Jurassic Era. The sand was covered up for millions of years, but as the land rose, it eroded and the area was used by Native Americans as far back as 11,000 years ago.     

The campground is a couple of miles west of the visitor center, and tucked into a semicircle of red rocks.  Here are a few photos I took this year.  Unfortunately, it was very chilly during the 12 days I spent here, so I did not do much exploring.  In addition, the other reason for coming here, to see a lot of Big Horn Sheep, did not work out because the area has been so dry.  Normally, a bachelor group of rams hang out around the campground, but they were just not around this year. 

However, if you do want to see some sheep from a few years ago, click here: 

This year, I was lucky to get one of my favorite spots--a handicap site that was paved and near the opening of the half-circle, so cell phone access was better than other sites.  Terrific view, as well.

 

 

The one disadvantage of this campground is that the roads are gravel/dirt, so winds do bring a lot of dust into your site and rig.  That was one reason why I wanted a paved site.  Also, only about half the campsites have electric and water hookups, but there are showers and some very nice private restrooms. 

 

 

Just incredible views right outside your door!  

 

 

 

Since the campsites are tucked into this semicircle of rocky hills, and because the rocks are made of sandstone, erosion over the eons has caused a lot of caves and place for kids and adults to climb on.  Bighorn Sheep like these rocks also because they provide protection, although the ewes and their lambs really don't come here very often.  Mostly they are up in the higher areas behind the visitor center where the rams cannot bother the babies.   

 

 

Campsites are well-spread apart, and every site has a covered cement picnic table. 

 

 

At the far end of the campground is a walk-in are specifically for tents.  Knowing that the Big Horn Sheep hang around this area, I decided to go for a walk back here.  

 

 

Back behind the big rocks to the left in this photo, I found a lot of animal droppings.  In looking them up, they were nearly all from the sheep.  Apparently, they have recently been using the large rock as a windbreak at night or in bad weather because there were so many droppings, they had to be from at least a small herd. 

While I was back here exploring, along came a couple of horseback riders!  Just as they reached the campground, they cut through an opening in the rocks and headed west.

Now, this was interesting.  This little animal track highway came from under a bush, and based on its width of about 4-6", I suspect it came from one or a small family of desert cottontail bunnies!! 

In the past when I have been here, it was a lot easier to see Big Horn Sheep tracks because there had been occasional winter rain.  This year, everything was covered up by dog or human footprints.  

However, if you would like to see how a 9-member herd of rams reacted to a small crack in a campground water line, go to this posting from January, 2021, when I was here:  http://grandmajjb.blogspot.com/2021/01/14-valley-of-fire-bighorn-sheep.html

Also, another reason for coming to this state park is to see all the ancient pictographs that the Native Americans made when they used this area heavily.  One fairly easy area to walk to is "Mouse's Tank."  A tank in the desert is a large depression that holds rainwater for weeks and months, and so is an important resource.  As they camped along the shallow canyon that leads to this tank, they pecked out hundreds of images on the dark rocks.  

In other words, the dark oxidized rock is their canvas and and stones to peck at these and remove a layer of the black color are their paintbrushes.  A big problem is that over time, the black coating of the rock or the rock itself falls to the ground or is eroded, so these images will not last forever.   

I took these photos of a walk to Mouse's Tank in 2018:  http://grandmajjb.blogspot.com/2018/01/14-mouses-tank-trail-valley-of-fire.html