Sagittarius Viking
Mindful exploring, through the eyes of a viking daughter.
Valley of Fire State Park 2
Arch Rock, Valley of Fire State Park (NV.)
Imagine being inside a Star Trek movie, then you’re pretty close to the experience of Valley of Fire. In fact Star Trek Generations was filmed in Valley of Fire, the notorious Captain Kirk died here. It does feel like you enter another world when you enter this state park.
I may not be a huge Star Trek fans, forgive me, (I have seen all the movies,) but I do understand why this location would be perfect. Numerous other movies, and commercials, have also been filmed here. The park is easy to access, and less than an hour from Las Vegas. If you want to visit, but don’t feel like driving out to the desert all by yourself, there’s companies that have guided tours in the park, that happily pick you up in Vegas, and take you to Valley of Fire State Park.
Sandstone
These amazing monuments are fragile, and protected. You are not allowed to climb up on top of them (we did see people doing that.)
There is hundreds of natural caves in the park, and some formations have what looks like huge balconies. With so much housing/protection from the elements already there, it’s easy to see why early human beings choose this place for their home, despite the scarcity of water.
With every turn of the road, new totally awe-inspiring vistas opens up.
I think the highest sandstone formation, in the above photo, looks like a huge bird of prey. Can you see the open beak?
Valley of Fire derives its name from red sandstone formations, formed from great shifting sand dunes during the age of dinosaurs, 150 million years ago. Complex uplifting and faulting of the region, followed by extensive erosion, have created the present landscape.
– Valley of Fire State Park visitor brochure
I hope you enjoyed the second visit to this incredible park. If you missed the first one, or simply want to re-visit, you can find the first post here. There will be two more posts from Valley of Fire State Park in a near future. To be continued..
Love,
Ms Zen
With all the holes, it is easy to imagine faces in the rock. Cool place!
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Yes! And in some of the faces antelopes were jumping around! From other holes giant lizards came out.
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Hello Ms Zen. Wow! thanks so much for sharing this with us. It’s hard to believe this barren, rugged landscape is so close to the mecca of Los Vegas. Those rock formations have such beauty and intrigue. Would love to photograph them for myself.
Best wishes,
Rowena
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My pleasure Rowena. I’ve been wanting to go to this park for a couple years. I didn’t know it was this close to Vegas either! I can’t wait to explore it during different seasons. I imagine the wildflowers in the spring being spectacular. Thank you for your kind comment my friend.
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It’s hard to imagine wildflowers growing in that barren environment. Can’t wait to see your photos.
Best wishes,
Rowena
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A great set of photos, well done!
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Thank you so much John!
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Great job capturing the unique beauty of this place! I love this park, we were there on Christmas eve last year and it will be a place I will always remember fondly.
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Thank you so much! I bet Christmas eve here was absolutely breathtaking!
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Yes I could see the open beak & some of the rocks looked like they were oohing & aaahing, thanks that was fun. The formations almost look pliable, amazing.
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I knew you would! It’s a very cool, inspiring place. So glad you enjoyed it with me 🙂
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Those rocks are amazing, full of life. Nice shots, thanks for sharing.
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Thank you! So happy you enjoy the post 🙂
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One of my favourite pastimes, when in a sandstone park, is imagining the rocks as petrified prehistoric beasts.
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Oooh, so much fun!
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Beautiful photos, Maria! Now that you mention it, I remember seeing these rock formation in the Star Trek movies and series. We just started watching Next Generation on Netflix!
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Thank you! That’s cool! Enjoy the Next Generation 🙂
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Great pics! I love taking pics at Red Rock. It’s been forever since I’ve been up there. I need to revisit.
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Thank you 🙏 I went to Red Rocks the weekend before, awesome place. It’s on my to do list this fall to explore those canyons.
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Great photos! I recently visited (and blogged about) the Valley of Fire as well. It’s a gorgeous park!
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Thank you 😊 yes, it is a very special place.
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