Exploring Nevada's Iconic Valley Of Fire

The Valley of Fire is a state park located in eastern Nevada. It's about an hour's drive from Las Vegas and sits just north of Lake Mead. Some of the most stunning sights include the dark orange sandstone rock formations. You'll find wind-carved stone with nicknames like the Seven Sisters, the Beehives and the Elephant.

Fees for park use are extremely reasonable, with cars paying about $12 per day for site use. Several of the campsites have been recently renovated and there are several dozen spots for car and tent campers as well as RVs, with showers provided as part of the campground facilities too. Several locations in the park are also available just for day use and make a great spot for picnicking or a get-together. You can find potable water on site, but if you are picky about the taste, you'll want to bring your own. The park water is from tanks refilled onsite and the water can be warm or tasty funny in extreme weather.

The Valley of Fire is a fairly popular site for weddings, but you will need to get a permit from the park before you head out and conduct your nuptials. Guided tours of the park can even be arranged right from your downtown Vegas hotel. If you don't want to drive out to the Valley, several Jeep tour companies would love to handle all the hassle and let you just enjoy the one-of-a-kind sights.

Sturdy shoes - the Valley is beautiful and day hikes are a great way to really connect with the scenery. But between the rocky surface and the potential for rattlesnakes, sturdy shoes are the appropriate choice for walking around in the park.

Water - Even if you visit the Valley of Fire when it's not got temps soaring into the upper 90s, it is an extremely windy location and that desert wind will keep dehydrating you just as much as the heat can. Potable water is avaiable at many of the camp sites and around the park, but it's also a good idea to carry water bottles and extra water on your own.

Eye protection - With all the wind, sun and sand, sunglasses or tinted goggles are a good idea if you are going to be spending any extended time walking around in the park.

Tenting Advice - The trickiest challenge to tenting in the Valley of Fire is managing to secure your tent to the ground in all the wind. The ground is either soft sand or really hard-packed. I've only ever gotten two things to work: long tent "nails" (12") pounded in with a heavy hammer or weighting down the tent from the inside with very large rocks and gear.

I have an annual camping event that I attend which has had me out in the Valley of Fire each spring for the past five years. I've been there between late April and late May, and it's really quite amazing how much the weather can change in just those few weeks. In April the temperature can vary suddenly from the mid-80s to the low 50s. There's more color in April, especially wildflowers early in the month, but with that color often comes some serious winds which can make tent camping challenging.

Once you get into May, the temperature seems to climb steeply with each passing week. By the time you get to the third week of the month, it's not unusual to have daytime temps in the 90s or higher and the overnight lows turn into balmy low 70s. The winds usually tend to not be so bad in May, but you never know when strong gusts are going to kick up out of nowhere. After all, that is the main force shaping all that gorgeous sandstone.

My favorite sights in the Valley of Fire are

• Mouse's Tank - At the end of a half mile canyon trail lined with fantastic petroglyphs is a natural basin which holds water nearly year-round despite being in the middle of a desert. This was a famous hideout used by Mouse, a late 19th-century renegade Paiute Indian.
• Atlatl Rock - Another site of petroglyphs and a great camping spot.
• Rainbow Vista - April is when this vista really "peaks" in terms of colors, and it very nearly does have every color of the rainbow.