Valley of Fire State Park Guide | Hiking Info + More

We’ve spent time in the Las Vegas areas on several different occasions – camping at the Desert National Wildlife Refuge, hiking Hayford and Gass Peaks, longboarding the Wetlands Loop Trail, shredding the amazing Anthem Skatepark and checking out the Arroyo Grande Pump Track. But somehow we had just recently found about a place called Valley of Fire State Park. Just from the name and a quick glance at a picture or two, we knew this was somewhere we wanted to adventure. The extremely scenic and playful Valley of Fire State Park lies about an hour north of Las Vegas and we could not wait to go explore!

Finally, the time came to check it out! We found an excellent place to camp near Valley of Fire called Logandale Trails. We were so happy with this boondocking option because it felt like an extension of the state park! A super scenic rock scrambling heaven.

We hope this article helps inform you and give you an idea of how to spend your time in Valley of Fire. And if you don’t have time to do much planning the best advice we can give you is to JUST GO HERE! It is incredibly beautiful and ridiculously fun. You can’t go wrong.

A Little About Valley of Fire State Park

Valley of Fire is the largest state park in Nevada and is located about an hour from Las Vegas. The name comes from the vibrant, red sandstone rock formations that make up the valley but there are also large tan and gray limestone areas within the park as well. The geology is fascinating and there is evidence of history sprinkled throughout the park. You can visit the exhibits at the Visitor Center to learn more.

There are two campgrounds at Valley of Fire State Park as well as several day use picnic areas and restrooms throughout the park. Complete a scenic drive or dive into the many adventurous hiking trails to experience the out of this world beauty!

Getting to Valley of Fire

There are two main entrances to Valley of Fire State Park: the west entrance and the east entrance.

Directions to the West Entrance: From Las Vegas, take I-15 for about 35 miles to exit 75 toward Valley of Fire/Lake Mead. Then drive about 17 miles on Valley of Fire Highway to the West Entrance Station.

Directions to the East Entrance: From Logandale, head south on N Moapa Valley Blvd toward West Gann Ave. After about 2 miles continue onto Lyman Street as it turns slightly left and becomes NV-169 S. Follow NV-169 S for 12.4 miles and then turn right onto Valley of Fire Highway. After about 2 miles you’ll reach the East Entrance Station.

Valley of Fire State Park Entrance Fees

An entrance fee is charged at Valley of Fire State Park for each vehicle. The payment is valid for one day.

Vehicle: $10
Camping (entrance included): $20
Camping with hookups: $30

There are pay station booths at the entrance to Valley of Fire. But if they aren’t manned upon your arrival there are self registration stations. Just put your cash in the provided envelope, tear off your portion of the stub and insert the payment into the slot. If you wish to pay with a card, you can do so at the visitor center.

Valley of Fire Hours

Valley of Fire is open everyday, all year. But the park is only open from sunrise to sunset and there are gates that are locked after dusk. After sunset, activity is limited to camping in the campgrounds.

Camping at Valley of Fire

There are two campgrounds at Valley of Fire State Park making a total of 72 camp spots and they are all first-come, first-served. Each campsite has covered tables for shade, grills, water and restrooms. There are also RV sites available with both power and water hookups. A dump station and showers are available. There is a camping limit of 14 days in a 30-day period.

Three group areas are available for overnight camping or picnicking for up to 45 people by reservation only. Call the park to make a reservation.

Valley of Fire Visitor Center

The Visitor Center is open from 9:00 am to 4:30 pm daily and can provide you with information about the park and make hike suggestions based on your desires. There are numerous exhibits depicting the geology, ecology, and history of the park and the nearby area. And there is a gift shop inside as well. Also good to know – there are restrooms and water refill stations available at the visitor center.

Valley of Fire Hikes

Hiking in Valley of Fire State Park is the best way to experience the incredible geology and beautiful sights. There are many hikes to explore but a word of wisdom… if you’ve only got one day to spend in the park, choose wisely!

On our first visit, we ran out of daylight so we left the park knowing that we had to come back to spend more time further exploring certain sections of the park. See what we learned from our first visit and what we would do differently below. It may also be helpful to stop in the visitor center to ask a ranger for suggestions to be sure you see what you came to see.

Below is a map of Valley of Fire State Park to help get you oriented with the main hiking areas and layout of the area as well as park amenities and points of interest. And on the map is a convenient list of the hiking trails that includes the trail length and surface type.

Our First Visit to Valley of Fire

On our first visit to Valley of Fire, we had no idea what to expect and knew nothing about the hiking trails or the parks hotspots. But we were immediately fascinated by the beautiful red rocks! As we saw more of the park, we quickly learned that there were definitely some areas that were (in our opinion) more fascinating than others.

We entered from the east entrance and thought that we might as well begin our hiking adventures from there. Later we found out that we really enjoyed the adventures on White Dome Road more and wished that we would have had more time to spend there. And we also ran out of time before we made it to the hikes near the west entrance.

looking out at the vast scenery in valley of fire state park

Luckily, we have recently made it back to Valley of Fire State Park! And we were able to see even more of the park as well as explore the areas that we had hoped on returning to. We had another amazing day full of adventure and I’m sure we’ll return again – there’s so much exploring to do yet!

Find out more about the hikes in Valley of Fire State Park below!

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HIKES NEAR THE EAST ENTRANCE

We began hiking as soon as we reached the first trailhead inside the Valley of Fire State Park boundary. Here are a few of the hikes that we did near the east entrance. Honestly we found these hikes to be less scenic and jaw dropping, they were definitely less crowded or just plain not crowded at all. Although I should mention, there looks like there may be some great options in this area for some off-trail rock scrambling adventures which never disappoint.

Elephant Rock:

1.2 mile loop, easy
As soon as we entered Valley of Fire State Park, there is a turn off for self registration and parking area for a couple trails. So where better to start than the beginning right? Or so we thought. Elephant Rock Trail is a nice introduction to the beautiful red rocks formations within the park and leads to a particular formation that resembles an elephant. The loop remains near the main road and is a quick and easy warm up for what’s to come!

Natural Arches Trail:

2.5 miles
Next up, we saw the turn off on the right for Natural Arches Trail and thought the name sounded like something worth seeing! A sign at the trailhead warned that the main arch had collapsed.. but we decided to hike it anyways. Natural Arches Trail is a pretty and peaceful walk on a sandy wash to some cool rocks and leads to rock scrambling areas. Walking on the sand made this trail pretty slow going but much less crowded than other hiking trails in Valley of Fire. (Come to find out, the other trails are busier for good reason!) If you have a limited amount of time to spend in Valley of Fire State Park, we would not recommend this hike as it is lengthy and time consuming with less dramatic scenery.

walking in the wash on natural arch trail

Petrified Logs Loop:

0.3 mile loop, easy
Hiking to the Petrified Logs is a quick stop off of the main road and a short, steep walk to some petrified wood. The large petrified log is protected by fencing. From there, the trail continues to a nice overlook.

The Cabins:

Accessible from parking area
Just a short turn off of the main road leads to these interesting cabins built against the red rocks back in 1935 by the CCC. There are shaded picnic tables and restrooms here. The cabins are a cool site to check out and we especially enjoyed scrambling on the red rocks nearby and exploring the cool eroded holes.

HIKES OFF WHITE DOMES ROAD

After checking out several hikes from the east entrance, we turned north onto White Domes Road. And this is where the adventures got even more incredible! Just the drive along White Domes Road was very scenic. There are a lot of hikes and attractions to see off of this road. And it is also extremely busy, to the point of being crowded and just packed. But the beauty and geology in this area is SERIOUSLY STUNNING. And so much fun!

Note: We found that the crowds in Valley of Fire State Park varied dramatically on our two visits. In January, the roads and trails were busy! But in October, there was much less traffic and noticeably less people..

Mouse’s Tank and Beyond:

0.7 miles +
When we arrived at Mouse’s Tank Trail we were surprised to see traffic and a completely full parking lot. We drove a little further to another parking area. There were picnic tables and restrooms here and it was also very busy. The busy trail led through pretty, tall red rock formations. About halfway in, there is a wall with petroglyphs. Some are legit, some have been recently added. We made it to Mouse’s Tank – a drop off down to a water hole. The beautiful red rock formations and canyons called our name so we adventured past the water/dry fall. We climbed and scrambled around through the narrower canyons and cool boulders before deciding we should keep on keeping on! The scrambling was a lot of fun and it seemed like we could keep going and going! But in my opinion, the hike itself to Mouse’s tank was a bit overrated, especially with the crowds.

Rainbow Vista Trail:

1 mile
The parking area for Rainbow Vista Trail is an overlook in itself. The vast view from here is seriously spectacular! With incredible formations and vibrant colors stretching on and on! There was limited parking here and the trail was also a bit crowded. But the trail led to and through some really cool rock formations and revealed some beautiful colors. Definitely some gorgeous scenery in this area of Valley of Fire State Park. I found the trail confusing, people just seemed to be walking everywhere.

Fire Canyon/Silica Dome

Short walk to an overlook
After Rainbow Vista, we continued north on White Domes Road and turned right onto Fire Canyon Road. There are numerous overlooks along this road and the views are incredible. The vast views of the red rocks of Fire Canyon dramatically meeting and contrasting with the lighter rocks was a beautiful sight.

Fire Wave Hike

1.5 miles
The Fire Wave hike begins directly across from parking lot #3 along White Domes Road. This is a very popular destination within Valley of Fire State Park! The trail leads through the sand, between rock formations and climbs atop a mellow rock formation revealing the striated sandstone that is known for its wave effect. And as you look around, there are lots of eye catching formations, colors and striations in every direction. From here, we snapped a few pictures then left the crowds behind and went to scramble on some nearby formations.

Exploring Incredible Geology from Parking Lot #3

Just scramble and explore!
On our first visit, by the time we got here dusk was right on our tails. But it felt like we were just getting to the good stuff! And based on both of our visits hiking Valley of Fire State Park, I would say that this turn off was easily the highlight of our experience. From the parking area, we just wandered towards the beautiful rock canyons and domes. The colors were out of this world – pink, purple, yellow, orange… For real, there were literally pink rocks! And it seemed to just go on and on, like we could explore just this area all day! There was no designated trail so we just wandered and climbed around, in awe at the incredible, colorful, amazing landscape all around us! This area was less crowded than many of the other trails on White Domes Scenic Byway but it was still a well travelled area and we ran into several other groups. We really loved the scenic landscape and the freedom to climb and wander towards whatever formation caught our eye. On our second visit to the park, we spend a few hours here and still look forward to coming back to this area to explore and scramble further!

White Domes Loop Trail:

1 mile
White Domes Loop Trail is at the end of White Domes Scenic Byway and was our final hike of the day. When we arrived, the trailhead was nearly full. This hike leads through some gorgeous lighter colored rock formations. There are some sandy sections, some rock stairs and some mellow sections but there is beauty all around the entire time! Doing the loop clockwise, after descending the rock stairs, we reached the remnants of a movie set. The movie “The Professionals” was shot here. There are some cool narrow sections and some awesome formations. White Dome Loop Trail intersects with Prospect Trail. As we were finishing up the loop, we really enjoyed the beautiful vista across the landscape to some gorgeous red rock formations.

narrow canyon side adventure on white domes trail

HIKES NEAR THE WEST ENTRANCE

On our first visit to Valley of Fire State Park, we didn’t even make it west of White Domes Road at all. And on round two, we still didn’t save enough time to see each of the stops. But we were able to see two of the quick features on the map.

Atlatl Rock

Short jaunt up a flight of stairs
Atlatl Rock is a well preserved example of petroglyphs found within Valley of Fire State Park. Once you climb the stairs, the rock in front of you depicts a story. And the views from atop the platform were vast and beautiful. While we were up there, we noticed a bighorn sheep down below. He was fascinating to watch and he made us grateful that we saved time for this quick stop to Atlatl Rock!

Arch Rock

Can be seen from vehicle
Arch Rock is exactly what you would expect – a red rock arch formation.

Thanks for Reading About the Gorgeous Valley of Fire State Park!

Valley of Fire State Park is an incredible place and we highly suggest giving it a visit – no matter how much time you have to spend there. From just a scenic drive through the park to some serious exploring of the many hikes in Valley of Fire, it won’t disappoint! The landscape is so unique. There are so many incredible rock formations and the colors throughout the park are just amazing.

Another major perk of park are all of the opportunities for climbing, scrambling and wandering through the valleys, domes, washes, and interesting formations. There are definitely ways to find solitude here as well. We can’t wait to come back and experience more of this otherworldly landscape. And you can’t beat how close it is to Las Vegas so while we’re in the area we might as well take advantage of that too! 😉

If you’re going to be in the area and you’re looking for free camping near Valley of Fire State Park, there are several options. But we highly recommend taking the time to check out Logandale Trails. You may not want to leave! It’s incredible. And if you have a toy, the OHV trails look like a blast! One day… 🙂 But even without a toy, it’s beautiful and there’s plenty of climbing to keep busy.

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