We left Boulder Beach Campground on February 2nd, 2023 and arrived at Valley of Fire State Park. From Boulder Beach Campground the drive is about 58 miles. We visited this park on January 29th, 2023 and found a wonder of nature. We decided we wanted to spend more time here, so we packed up our camp and headed to this magnificent park out in the middle of nowhere. The park is filled with huge varieties of sandstone formations and the amazing desert landscape. The park left me with the awe effect and I see the Valley of Fire as another world.
The Valley of Fire is the oldest and largest state park in Nevada and has 35,000 + acres of spectacular all color and shape rock formations. My favorite was the deep red and jagged hills. The flamboyant color of red radiates from the sandstone and this speaks for the name Valley of Fire. The Valley of Fire sits in the Mohave Desert.
Camping at this State Park is first come, first serve and has self-pay envelopes at the campground. Valley of Fire has two campgrounds, Arch Rock Campground and Atlatl Rock Campground. Both campgrounds have picnic tables with shade structure, and fire pits with grates. We stayed at Atlatl Rock Campground, as this was the best choice for us, considering how large our campers are and the services we wanted. Arch Rock is much smaller and better suited for tent or smaller campers. Seems to be a little more private as the campsites are set among and built back into the red sandstone. Arch Rock has vault toilets and no showers. This is dry camping except you have access to a water spigot. Atlatl Rock Campground is the park’s primary campground. Half the sites have electric hookups and water, and the other half is dry camping except water spigots. When we arrived at the campground, we had to stay the night dry camping. Trying to obtain a spot with electric and water was hard. John had to start 1st thing in the morning looking and waiting for someone to leave so he could grab the spot like a vulture as several people were waiting and doing the same thing. We were able to grab an awesome camp site that fit both (Rogers and mine) our campers and still had plenty of room. We stayed in camp site 36. There is a dump station located at the entrance for both campgrounds. Cell service is very spotty but Rogers Star Link worked very well.
Weather – After the sun went down the temperatures were high 30s to mid 40s (this is a little cooler than average for this time of year). The daytime temperatures were mid 60s. Several days were very windy and made it feel a lot colder.
The hills lit up as the sun was setting in the evening and rising in the morning. The sunrise and sunsets are short and the light changes very quickly.
Places of interest:
The Beehives – Just off the main road. Huge clusters of sandstone formations that resemble beehives.
Atlatl Rock – Is named after a device used for launching spears. Large amount of steps that led to etchings of ancient prehistoric Indian petroglyphs.
Arch Rock – Large arch in the sandstone
Mouse’s Tank – An Outlaw’s Hideout. Short hike that ends at a natural bowl in the rock where water collects. This spot is named after the Indian Outlaw named Little Mouse who hid in the rocks for days and even months after being accused of murder in the 1890s.
Fire Wave - impressive display of striated sandstone that has eroded over time to create a beautiful wave effect.
Historic Cabins – 3 cabins built in 1935 of native sandstone and were used for many years to shelter campers and travelers visiting the park. The cabins are now being preserved.
Petrified Logs – Yes you can find petrified wood in the Valley of Fire. The wood is visible in two different location.
White Domes - Sandstone formations with differnet shapes and constrating colors, long sweeping desert views, slot canyon, and caves. This trail also visits an old film set, 1966 movie The Professionals.
Rainbow Vista - Adventure of color canyons, domes, towers, ridges, valleys
We drove into Overton 1 evening to get a few things at the local supermarket and dinner at LaFonda Mexican Restaurant. I give LaFonda a big thumbs down. The food just wasn’t good. Lins Grocery Store was small but seemed to carry a little of everything. The store was clean and employees were very friendly. I was pleased with this grocery store for a little town like Overton.
We spent a day riding 4 wheelers at Bitter Springs Backcountry Byway OHV Trails. The Bitter Springs Backcountry Byway is a 28 mile point to point trail located near Overton, NV. We rode about 15 miles and really enjoyed the trail through the desert foothills of the Muddy Mountains. This was rocky landscape imbedded with dry washes, colorful sandstone of all different formations, narrow canyons and wide plains.
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