Valley of Fire

Jill's Journal: About 50 miles north of Las Vegas is a truly stunning place. It’s easy to see why Valley of Fire State Park is Nevada’s oldest state park, dedicated in 1935. The name is derived from the red sandstone formations which rise out of the ground in striking fashion at nearly every turn.

The girls preferred to think the name “Valley of Fire” came from the heat and they had a point. It was mighty hot during our visit and our planned hikes quickly wilted into much shorter little walks at various stops as we braved what felt like a furnace.

Victoria had the cutest comment, “I like it when the car does the hiking for us.”

And on this day, in this heat, most of us agreed with her. Sometimes it is nicer to drive than walk, particularly when one is in a Valley of Fire. :)

These unusual formations are called beehives.

With the girls in the photo for perspective, you can see the beehives are clearly bigger than they look.

Arch Rock.

At Atlatl Rock, a great variety of petroglyphs can be seen. This art on the rock is believed to have been here for 4,000 years, left by ancient Indians. Although the meaning of these drawings has died with history, that notched stick near the top of this first one is known to be an “atlatl,” which was used to thrown primitive spears. An atlatl is considered to be the ancestor to the bow and arrow.

Beautiful, beautiful, just beautiful all over. No wonder the ancient Indians spent time here and left their mark.

What a lovely, lovely place.