Las Vegas - Day 4: Valley of Fire State Park (12/28)

The next day we traveled out to Valley of Fire State Park. We had originally planned this as part of Wednesday's trip to Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam. But, things took longer than expected and the trip up the west side of Lake Mead would have taken an hour and a half. So, instead of trying to cram everything in, we decided to postpone it and I'm really glad we did.

We drove into the park the back way, starting north on Rt. 15 and turning off on Rt. 169 (Valley of Fire Highway). At the intersection of the two roads was a medium sized convenience store. This store must be doing a very profitable business, especially in fireworks. Only a dozen or so yards from the store there were piles of used fireworks all over the roadside. This continued for at least 1/4 mile. It was a little depressing that so many people thought that it was acceptable to leave their litter in the desert.

The rest of the drive into the park was pretty incredible. It was still very early and the road was deserted. The scenery was interesting with the desert dominating the foreground and the mountains in the distance. We finally got to the entrance to the park and decided to stop for a stretch. The wind was absolutely howling and, being in the desert, there was really no escape from it. This kept most of the birds down but we were able to spot some Black-throated Sparrows, White-crowned Sparrows, and a Canyon Wren in the scrub along the road.

As we drove on, the scenery changed abruptly. The bluffs all changed from gray to a rusty red color. It was unbelievably beautiful, even in winter. The formations were all all different shapes. Some were towers others were short and squat. We stopped several times to get out and look around before heading over to the visitors center.

The visitors center was very well done with several nice exhibits. The lady at the desk was great too and she told us the sites that we should try to get out to see. But, I couldn't bear to stay inside and headed out to see if there were any birds in the bushes that ringed the building. My initiative was rewarded by what I think was a Black-tailed Gnatcatcher. He was foraging in he bush until he spotted me. Then he came out in the open, puffed himself up to protect against the wind and cold, and began singing.

After everyone had enjoyed the visitors center, our next stop was a place called Mouse's Tank. The site was named after a Native American (Mouse) who used it as a hideout in the late 1800's. The tank is a rock formation at the end of the trail which collects rainwater. It wasn't very large (about the size of a large bathtub) but it was sheltered from the sun so the water that collects there is available during the dry months.

The tank was actually located a short hike away from the main road. The trail was just a passage between two canyon walls. The walls were covered with petroglyphs. These are pictures carved into the surface of the rock hundreds of years ago. A kiosk at the beginning of the trail explained what a few of the symbols meant. But I could only guess what this one was trying to say (looks like toast holding hands to me).

We also found some tracks in the soft sand. They looked like Kit Fox to me but I can't be entirely sure. If they were Kit Fox, he must have missed this guy.

After Mouse's Tank we continued on to see more of the park. We stopped at a place called White Domes which were cliffs of white rock sticking out of the sand. The pictures really don't do them justice since they have nothing to act as a scale. But they were truly immense. Then it was back to Atlatl Rock for more petroglyphs. We finished up by making quick stops at Arch Rock (pretty self-explanatory) anf the Seven Sisters (seven large rock columns). It was really a great park and I'd recommend it to anyone who's visiting the Las Vegas area.