Day trip from Las Vegas to the Valley of Fire

Posted on Mar 26, 2014 in Personal, Photography | 11 comments

One day after my classes at WPPI, I had a free afternoon to go and see something. Together with my friend Ania – whom you might remember from earlier posts – I was looking for something worth seeing but not too far from Las Vegas so that we could make it in one afternoon. After a little research, we decided to go to the Valley of Fire – Nevada’s oldest and largest state park.

It was close to Vegas indeed. After only about an hour of driving, which was – by the way – so simple we didn’t even need a GPS, we arrived at the park. I got out of the car… and was immediately taken back by the beauty of this place. On our first stop in the park we spent over 2 hours walking around and taking pictures of everything: the incredible rock formations – straight from craziest dreams, the red color of rocks contrasted with blue/white sky and scarce vegetation… It’s just unbelievable that nature on its own could create such things – I have no words to describe this. Perhaps each picture is worth a thousand words, but even as great as these photographs are, they just do not capture the grand impression you get when you walk around these rocks. You’ve got to go there, walk it with your own feet and see it with your own eyes to truly appreciate it.

We got so carried away at our first stop, that we needed to hurry through the rest of the park because it was getting late! We got into the car, drove a few yards and stopped again – another amazing place that we just had to see and photograph. Equally well we could have simply walked there from our parked car.

I am rather slow walker, but this allows me to focus more on things you wouldn’t notice if you walked at a fast pace. That’s how I discovered some old drawings by the Natives, beautiful desert flowers and other details – the guide book mentions them all, but I’ve met people who have been to the Valley of Fire more than once, and they’ve never noticed those things.

In the end – it was a quick and easy ride to get to the Valley of Fire, and it was very well worth the time and gas. However, please do take my advice and plan for more than just a couple of hours in the afternoon at the park, once you decide to go there. There’s so much to see…

Turns out March was a perfect time to visit. The weather was great – summer in the Valley of Fire can be extremely hot. The whole trip was a big success – I still feel moved when I look at my photos. This natural wonder is on my list of places to show my kids in the next couple of years. I’m going back there for sure!