Last updated on December 14th, 2025
Visiting the Las Vegas area soon? Here’s our list of 8 things to do at Valley of Fire State Park, just an hour drive from the Strip, as well as tips for your trip!
After an unexpected change in plans this fall, we found ourselves on a road trip from Austin to Lake Tahoe. It’s an almost 1,800 mile trek. While we were initially bummed about the change in plans, we quickly got excited when we realized that we could make a few fun pit stops along the way.
We stopped in the Phoenix area to visit some friends. Then drove to the Las Vegas area to visit a few of our favorite food and coffee spots, as well as explore some nature. And one of the top items on our agenda: Valley of Fire State Park!
We had seen many photos of this park and have been wanting to visit for a very long time. We instantly jumped at the chance to take a different route than planned and go exploring! The park was just as beautiful as we imagined. We had a super fun few hours going on mini hikes, seeing petroglyphs, driving around, and admiring the orange rocks.
There are so many things to do at Valley of Fire State Park. Whether you have just a few hours, like us, or more time to explore, here are the top 8 things things to do while you’re there!
Before embarking on your adventure, please review the Leave No Trace principles to ensure you leave every place better than you found it, so that others can enjoy these beautiful places for many years to come!
These seven principles include planning ahead and preparing, hiking and camping on durable surfaces, disposing of waste properly (pack out what you pack in!), understanding campfire rules and always fully extinguishing your fires, respecting wildlife, and being considerate of other visitors.
About Valley of Fire State Park
The Valley of Fire State Park is Nevada’s first state park and largest state park, covering over 40,000 acres. While the park became an official state park in the 1930’s, in the 1920’s someone drove through the park at sunset and thought it looked like the entire valley was on fire, inspiring the park’s name. And they were right!
As you drive up to the park, you’re surrounded by the tan desert landscape. Then suddenly BAM!, you’re greeted with the bright red Aztec sandstone that makes up the park. Giving it a fiery appearance. It feels like another world!
The park is open daily and the entrance fee is $10/car, but it’s well worth it! And the best part? It’s only a short walk from your car for most of the main sights, as they’re right on the main roads. This makes it extremely friendly for all ages and activity levels, as well as timeframes (and it’s dog friendly!).
Many of the top things to do at Valley of Fire State Park are quick roadside stops, not so many hiking trails. Whether it’s a cool rock formation or a quick canyon stroll. Some of the best sights are the views from your window. We explored the park in 3-4 hours, including lots of photo breaks, and felt like we got to see almost everything! It was one of our favorite state parks in all of the United States!
Where is Valley of Fire located?
Valley of Fire State Park is only 52 miles (a little less than an hour drive) from the Las Vegas Strip, making it an easy day trip if you’re visiting Vegas and want a break from the hustle and bustle of the city.
It’s also around 64 miles (1.5 hours driving) from Hoover Dam. Which would be a great activity before or after the park! While relatively close to both destinations, we’d recommend having a rental car to get to Valley of Fire. As the park requires a bit of driving to see the major sights. Whether it’s your first time or tenth, we highly recommend a visit to the park!
Many people make this their first stop on a Utah National Parks road trip, on their way to Zion National Park! We recommend you start in Las Vegas and end in Salt Lake city, exploring southern Utah along the way. It’s definitely worth visiting Valley of Fire state park as part of that trip to see the beautiful rock formations, hike the short trails, see the pink rock formations and enjoy the scenic drives.
Want more ideas of things to do near Vegas? Check out our blog post with lots of ideas of things to do in Vegas that don’t involve partying!
8 Things to Do at Valley of Fire State Park
While there are many things to do at Valley of Fire State Park, there are 10 things that we would definitely recommend adding to your itinerary. Full disclosure: due to getting a later start, we were unable to see all of these spots, but we visited the majority of them and after researching the park, would still recommend all of them!
1. Atlatl Rock
Atlatl Rock is a super quick, but really neat spot! As you drive up, you’ll instantly notice a large rock with a 250 foot metal staircase. After you climb up the stairs, you’re greeted with a collection of petroglyphs. They’re over 4,000 years old depicting an atlatl, which is a throwing stick or a dart thrower used by ancient tribes to give more force to their darts or spears. The history in this stop is really cool to see. And so are the views of the park and surrounding desert from the top of the staircase!
2. Elephant Rock
Elephant Rock is a natural arch of sandstone that at a specific angle, sort of looks like an elephant! It’s a quick 0.3 mile hike from the parking lot to see Elephant Rock and while the arch isn’t huge and not everyone agrees that it looks like an elephant, it’s worth checking out to see for yourself! If you’re coming from the east entrance the parking lot will be shortly ahead on your right.
3. White Domes Trail
White Domes Trail is one spot in the park that we unfortunately didn’t have enough time for, but was super high on our list. We’re very bummed we didn’t make it, so if you visit Valley of Fire State Park, definitely check it out! White Domes road is a 1.1 mile loop trail that is relatively flat and takes you by different color and shaped sandstone formations, as well as through a narrow canyon! This trail has also been the filming location for many movies, such as Transformers, Casino, Total Recall, Star Trek: Generations, and Austin Powers.
Note: this trail is closed to due extreme heat from June 1st through October 1st and remains open the rest of the year, October 1st through May 31st.
Want to get 30% off an AllTrails Plus membership? Use our code aplusk30 (you must redeem this code on the website, not the app)!
We use AllTrails Plus on every single hike and it is the most helpful hiking tool out there! Some of the features we love are offline maps (so we can navigate even without cell service), wrong-turn alerts, and its 3D maps feature, so we can get a feel for trails before we hike.
4. Pink Canyon
Pink Canyon (also known as pastel canyon) is a slightly lesser known spot in the park, so if you’re looking to avoid crowds, head here! It’s an unmarked trail, so finding it can be tricky, but if you drive down Mouse’s Tank road, keep driving until you pass the 4th “Dip” sign. Head down two dips and you’ll see wash sign #5 where you can park right off the road. You’ll see an entrance to a canyon right off the road, where you can walk in and start exploring!
The canyon isn’t bright pink, but is more of a pastel pink mixed in with oranges and whites. The canyon isn’t very tall or long, but it’s still a nice stop, although very sandy, so make sure you have the right shoes on! We walked through the canyon quickly and then headed back to the van, but you could keep going after it opens up and end up at the Fire Wave.
5. Go on a Dune Buggy Adventure
One great way to see these things to do at Valley of Fire State Park is by dune buggy! Book a dune buggy or ATV tour through the park and explore while taking an exhilarating ride. This particular tour is a whopping 8 hours long, so you’ll get to see many of the sites on this list plus more, all while being guided by your tour guide who will teach you so much about the park. This is definitely one of the most fun ways to see Valley of Fire State Park.
Plus, the tour includes pickup and drop-off from your accommodation in Las Vegas and lunch is included as well. This is a very easy and extremely fun way to explore this park!
Want to save some money on this tour or experience? Join Tripadvisor Rewards to earn 5% Trip Cash on any hotel or experience booking made in their app, which can be applied to future in-app bookings!
6. Fire Wave
Fire Wave trail is a beautiful spot in the park, named after the wave-like swirls of red, pink, orange, and white sandstone. It is a 1.5 mile round trip, relatively easy walk to get to, and is one of our favorite things we saw in the park! Fire Wave looks a lot like the famous Wave in Arizona, but unlike the wave, it does not require a lottery system to get an extremely rare permit.
7. Rainbow Vista
Rainbow Vista is another quick hike (1.1 miles) at the park that is full of beautiful views of the park! On a marker at the trailhead it says: “you are looking across 150 million years of time. The great maze of narrow slot canyons, domes, towers, ridges, and valleys before you are carved from sand deposited during the time when dinosaurs walked the earth. This is wild, virtually untouched wilderness. It is an “Adventure in Color” for you to experience by car and on foot.” The trail is very sandy and some say it is kind of confusing to follow, but this blog has great instructions on how to get to the end of the trail!
8. Mouse’s Tank Road
One of the most famous photos from Valley of Fire State Park is from Mouse’s Tank Road (not to be confused with Mouse’s Tank Trail). The photo is taken above the road and has views of the road that cuts between the red sandstone and mountains in the background. It’s a crazy awesome view!
We aren’t 100% sure we went to the exact famous spot, or the best place along the road, but we parked in a pull off on the side of the road between the Rainbow Vista trailhead and the Petroglyph Canyon trailhead coming from Valley of Fire Highway and Seven Sisters. It’s easier to see where to pull off if you’re going down the road back towards the visitor center. Once you park in the pull off, you need to climb up a few red rocks, which are very easy to climb up, to get the shot!
9. Windstone Arch
The final spot on our list is Windstone Arch, also known as Fire Cave, which is a popular spot for photographers. Located very close to Atlatl Rock, Windstone Arch is a very small cave with an arch and natural pocket holes. It’s really unique looking and you can often find photographers lining up to get shots of the inside. We can’t wait to make it here next time!
10. Group Tour From Las Vegas
Another tour option for those who maybe don’t have a car or who just want a very easy and relaxing experience visiting these great things to do in Valley of Fire State Park is to book a guided tour from Las Vegas. This Small Group tour or this Guided Hiking tour are both great options!
We love that they both include pickup and drop-off from your accommodation in Las Vegas and entry into the park as well. These tours make for a super simple and easy way to see the park without having to drive there and figure it out on your own. The downside is that you cannot control the exact stops you make and things you see. But you are guaranteed to still see a lot in the park and have a great time!
Want to save some money on this tour or experience? Join Tripadvisor Rewards to earn 5% Trip Cash on any hotel or experience booking made in their app, which can be applied to future in-app bookings!
Where to stay when visiting Valley of Fire
If you’re headed to Valley of Fire State Park and are unsure of where to stay, we’ve gotcha covered! The area right around Valley of Fire is lacking a lot of lodging and restaurant options. This makes it a less ideal area to stay in. But there are still plenty of options nearby that are worth checking out!
Las Vegas
If you want to be close to restaurants, shops, and activities, we recommend staying in Las Vegas and making the drive to Valley of Fire. Here are some suggestions of where to stay, ranging from spots both on and off the Strip!
- Vacation Rental: This spot is away from the craziness of the strip. But it’s super close to our favorite coffee shop called PublicUs and the Fremont area!
- Vdara: we love this hotel on the Strip because it doesn’t have a casino and doesn’t allow smoking. This makes it a quieter spot to escape from the crowds.
- Aria: Kathryn has stayed at this hotel multiple times for work and it’s great! While much bigger than Vdara, the hotel and casino are both very nice.
- Palazzo/Venetian: Located on the other end of the strip from Vdara and Aria. This hotel has a ton to offer inside, from restaurants, to gondola rides!
Campgrounds at Valley of Fire State Park
If being close to restaurants isn’t a big deal to you, or you just want an unplugged night out in nature, check out one of Valley of Fire’s campgrounds for a great place to stay!
The park is home to two regular campgrounds, Arch Rock Campground and Atlatl Rock Campground near the west entrance. Both of which are first-come, first-served, so plan to arrive early to snag a spot! These campgrounds have water, grills, covered picnic tables, restrooms, and showers. And the spots are $20/night, but if you need utility hook ups, it’ll be $10 more/night. RV sites are available, and we especially love that the picnic areas are covered.
They do have three group areas you can camp at, holding up to 45 people each. These can be reserved in advance by calling the park.
BLM land
During our visit to Valley of Fire State Park we parked the van on free, BLM land and it was the best! We found an amazing spot just miles from the park which was easy to get to, had tons of space, incredible views, and strong enough cell service to work from the van (score!). It was definitely one of our favorite boondocking spots yet! If you are fine camping without amenities or have a van or RV, definitely check out this spot!
Want to get 15% off a Harvest Hosts membership? Click this link and then use the code HHFRIENDS15!
Harvest Hosts is a network of destinations across the US and Canada that allow RVers (or Van Lifers like us!) to stay overnight for free with the membership! These destinations include wineries, breweries & distilleries, farms, golf courses and more! The annual membership gives you unlimited access to spend the night at any of the Host‘s locations for the year. There are 7,000+ super unique places to choose from and they are located all over the country. We even stayed at an alpaca farm once!
When to visit Valley of Fire State Park
Valley of Fire State Park is open year round, which gives you tons of flexibility. But here are some of our tips for the best time to visit to ensure you have decent weather and lower crowds!
Visit in the non-summer months
Temperatures in the park can get extremely high. This makes hiking and exploring a bit challenging with all of the sun exposure. Visiting in the late fall or early spring would give you great temperatures. Although it may be a tad busier for this reason. We visited in late September and while the days were still a tiny bit warmer, the evenings were absolutely perfect.
Go early in the morning or late in the afternoon
The early mornings and late afternoons/sunset are the best times to visit for beautiful light, as well as cooler temperatures. Out of the two, we always prefer sunrise because the crowds are always lower than sunset! No matter when you head out, bring along plenty of water because it can get hot!
Visit on a weekday
Weekdays are also a great time to visit! We visited on a weekday afternoon when school was in session, so we experienced less crowds.
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