A Day Trip to Mars: Valley of Fire State Park

Exploring Nevada’s Underrated Gem: Valley of Fire State Park
Valley of Fire State Park is a beautiful state park only 1 hour from Las Vegas. The bright red aztec sandstone offers some beautiful and unique rock formations.
The most popular hike in the park is the Fire Wave Trail, a 1.3 mile moderate hike with only 150 ft of elevation gain (on the way back). The Fire Wave is a rock formation with oranges, reds, and whites. The Fire Wave has a beautiful backdrop and is one of the best hikes in the park. The scenery is amazing with the incredible orange and white rocks that you pass when driving to the trail. The trail is sandy at the beginning of the hike and transitions into a more rigid sandstone surface. Rock cairns (small stacks of rocks) lead the way to the Fire Wave on the sandstone.
Hikers are recommended to do this hike in the year's cooler months. In fact, hiking is not allowed in the summer months due the extreme and dangerous heat. We went just 2 weeks after hiking opening up in October and it was 90* and hot! During the summer, the temperature is well over 100 degrees, and the trail has no shade.
The Fire Wave is best photographed in the late afternoon and early evening.
Valley of Fire State Park is extremely under rated and could probably be a national park if it weren’t so small. Even though it is so small, it has amazing scenery and has unique rock formations that you won’t find anywhere else in the west. It may still be better than some national parks!
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