Death Valley and Valley of Fire State Park (Part 3)

(Clicking on the pictures will open them larger in a new window.)

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Today's plan was to drive as far as North Las Vegas and spend the night at the Walmart there. I had called ahead and I was told we were welcome to spend the night in the small parking area over on the side.

Once on the road we decided there was not a real reason to stop us from continuing on all the way to Death Valley. Though we did stop at that same Walmart for supplies.

With our neighbors gone
I had a clear view of the early morning light.

The sun coming up on what will be a wonderful day.

Leaving Poverty Flats and driving through Overton
we are on our way.

In the distance, Las Vegas
 through what looks like smoke.

We have turned onto US-95 

which turned into two lanes yet still a nice highway.

The road seemed like it went on forever.

One thing we did not see was a rest area

so we pulled in here...Surprise!...to use

our facilities.

The next turn was onto NV-373 and before long we said
goodbye to Nevada and hello California and CA-127.

Then we turned onto CA-190
and this highway brought us to our destination.

For most of the ride, up until know, it felt like we
were going up hill.

That was about to change. About 15 miles from our
destination we started a steady downhill ride. 

We passed a sign that warned of 23 miles of dips and
it did not lie.

Even when we were at Sea Level
we continued going down.

we are at 190 feet below sea level.

We stopped at the Visitor Center to show our Golden Age Pass, pay for a few days of camping, and pick up a park map. Back out at the parking lot we disconnected  the Jeep and I called Shirley to see what they were up to.  When she said, Happy Hour I asked if we could join them. We were not suppose to get here until Monday but then when we heard they had arrived a day early we decided, after picking up supplies, that we could make it in time for Happy Hour and we did just a little later but we adjusted. Ken said he had a feeling we would decide to come today. After dumping and taking on water we joined them on the top tier and after getting us parked Tom took out our chairs and we made a circle of four and the chatting began. It is so great when a "Plan" comes together!



Valley of Fire State Park (the conclusion of our visit)


Heading west on Valley of Fire Road, after finishing our ride on White Domes Road, we can still see the wonderful colors in the distance.

Turning on the Scenic Loop Road the first thing we noticed is the large group of people going up and down the stairs to what looked like the Atlatl Rock. Thinking we would circle around and return later we kept going. Then for some reason we completely forgot to do so. Another reason to come back in the future

We stopped to view the Natural Arch.

The Arch

and other rock formations

in the area.

Continuing on around

the Scenic Loop.

Another small arch in the distance.

The West Entrance.

We have turned around and are now making our way
east on Valley of Fire Road.

Valley of Fire Road is the main road accessing and traversing through the park. The 10.5 mile section of the road between the east and west entrances of the park was officially designated as a Nevada Scenic Byway on June 30, 1995.

The Beehives an unusual sandstone formations eroded by wind and water.

Other rock formations near the Beehives.

Tom checking out the area below while I was looking and
taking pictures above. 

Beehive or flying saucer?

More views as we make our way East.

Can you see the faces.

The Seven Sisters

Interesting how the wind has worn away the red sandstone.

On the road to the Cabins

These were built by the Civilian Conservation
Corps in the 1930's.

Built with Native Sandstone they were shelter for travelers
of the Arrowhead Trail.

They had some nice views out their doors.

The sign said, Lone Rock.

This was the only lone rock.

The view from the Lone Rock.

An opening on the side.

Looking out towards the Valley of Fire Road.

Clark Memorial

in the distance.

The light shining through the sandstone thinned by the wind.
I was trying to get the light.

Tom took this from back a distance. Do you see a dragon?

We have arrived back where we started our visit.

When looking for information about the park I found this and thought it would be a fun fact to include:

Valley of Fire is a popular location for shooting automobile commercials and other commercial photography. It has provided a setting for the following films and television shows:

• Viva Las Vegas starring Elvis Presley had multiple shots filmed in the park during the racing scenes for the film's finale in 1963.
• The Professionals with Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin, and Claudia Cardinale was filmed in 1966. Valley of Fire was one of three locations used in the film. All that remains of the set is a portion of a rock wall of a hacienda.
• The outside Mars scenes from Total Recall, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, were almost totally shot in Valley of Fire.
• The scenes from planet Veridian III from Star Trek Generations were filmed here in 1994.The Silica Dome is particularly highlighted for Star Trek fans as the site of iconic starship captain James T. Kirk's death and burial. (information found on Internet)

The end of the pictures and our visit to Valley of the Fire State Park in Nevada near Overton.
It truly was a beautiful ride through this park and we enjoyed the many views offered as we turned each corner. A day well spent.

We are glad you stopped by!

If you have time to leave a comment we would enjoy hearing from you.