Valley of Fire State Park, and a County Fair

Valley of Fire State Park lies about 45 miles from where our RV was parked in north Las Vegas. It’s considered to be a geologic park. The additional thing that drew me to it was the promise of seeing petroglyphs. These messages left from ancient peoples are fascinating and I like to think about the people who drew them. So, we packed a picnic and headed out.

A hint of sights to come is the bright red rocks that greet you as you enter the park.

The first stop just after entering Valley of Fire is Atlatl Rock. Here, the petroglyphs are high up on the boulders. The stairs up to them presented the first challenge, but the reward is great for those who make the climb.

Petroglyphs offer a window into the lives of the people who lived here long ago. An atlatl is a primitive spear. Here, near the top, the artist drew a picture of one as well as a person with an atlatl in his hand. There are also some big- horn sheep scattered around. It’s interesting to speculate what else the artist, or artists, may have been thinking of when creating these.

The artwork covered much of the tall rock slab. We marveled at how they might have gotten up there to accomplish it.

At the Visitors Center, there are descriptions of the rocks. Valley of Fire’s rocks come in many colors. They are mostly sedimentary, meaning they come from liquid rock that is deep within the earth, compressed and formed into new rock. They then metamorphose into new forms such as dolomite (from limestone) or quartzite (from sandstone).

This formation of rocks can be seen just after leaving the Visitor’s Center.

What is intriguing about the rocks is that just by moving your perspective, you receive a whole different view. After driving around a corner of the road, the above formation is also pictured below. The small rock perched on another looks like it might fall right off in a good windstorm!

We hiked Mouse’s Tank Trail, which starts out with sand for the feet and orange boulders rising up on the side. There are petroglyphs here, too, and it was like an Easter egg hunt to find them as we walked.

Another thing I learned in the Visitor’s Center is that a dark staining of some of the exposed sandstone walls is called “desert varnish”. Valley of Fire has a lot of desert varnish, and this is what the natives preferred for their petroglyphs.

Still another definition for you – a “tank” is a pool of water formed when rocks form a sort of bowl which holds rainwater. The early peoples and later travelers greatly benefited from these water pockets. We learned about these when we unsuccessfully tried to find a tank on a trail at Capitol Reef National Park a while ago. I was happy to see this one.

Supposedly, Mouse is the name of the Indian fellow who found it. I’d venture to say he wasn’t the first.

Our other trail for this day was White Dome Trail, with two huge white domes of rock as the entrance portals. On this trail there is a piece of a movie set.

What looks like an old ruin was actually built in 1965 for the movie “The Professionals”.

Still on this same trail, and shortly after the movie set, we entered a slot canyon.

After walking in to it, the air was suddenly cool and we were shaded from the sun.

Coming out of the slot canyon, the walk was level and the rocks were so pretty. I saw what looked to me like a giant tortoise head in this formation:

And, the colorful striated rocks for which the park is known, in pinks and reds and whites, along with some spring flowers blooming:

We found a picnic area for our lunch. It turned out to be a stage for a nest of chipmunks who were all vying for a piece of our lunch. I don’t feed the critters anymore, and no one should, but people do. They were very entertaining as they scampered about.

Here’s more photo of Valley of Fire, showing a deep contrast between the colors of weathered rock and desert varnish:

Coincidentally, the morning news on the same day as our visit here did a feature on the Clark County Fair. I looked up the location and found it was only a little distance from Valley of Fire.

We had come into the state park on the west side. To get to the fair, we needed to go through the park – which we were doing anyway – go out the east side, and turn north for a little while. We enjoyed the different view along the way. The east side emerges just north of the northernmost reach of Lake Mead. The landscape was other-worldly. There were dry mesas with lofty tables miles long, yet the valley was green with trees.

Inside the fair gates, I was ready for a treat and our mission was to find funnel cakes and lemonade to share. I couldn’t remember when I’d last had one, although we’d had plenty of opportunity. There was a grove of trees with a large patch of grass and we soon joined everyone else taking a break from the sun. It beat hard on this day and felt hot, even though the temperature was barely eighty degrees.

Only small animals were being judged at this fair. There were no cows or horses here, although there were one or two on display. There was a mama sow with her piglets and other animals such as this group of llamas:

We watched the goat judging. These kids work so hard taking care of their goat all year long, and then making sure they and their goat are looking their best for the big day. The judge had a lot to say as he checked them all out. The goats and their owners are evaluated in groups of six. All of the goats are then in their pens for the duration of the fair, and ribbons proudly displayed.

When the judging was done, the kids could enjoy the carnival at the fair to provide some stress relief. There was also a handful of buildings to walk through. I always enjoy the fine arts building at fairs in order to view the needlework, paintings, and other creativity on display. This is an embroidered piece with a multitude of French knots that form the background and the tablecloth for the vase of flowers. I’m sure it was a lot of work!

From here, it was an easy drive a little further north to hop on the interstate for the drive back to Vegas. I counted this day as one of the highlights of our time here.

Next time – Everything else in Las Vegas