This stop along our trip to San Diego actually wasn't in or near San Diego at all. It was on the way home, in Nevada, about 40 miles north of Las Vegas. We stopped at Valley of Fire State Park, which was amazing!
When we left San Diego Sunday night to head to Vegas, it rained with huge lightning storms the ENTIRE way! Not just a little rain, but downpours of rain all the way. Made for some interesting driving. We were a little worried about our plans to go to Valley of Fire the next day, but it all turned out OK. It was very cloudy all day Monday morning as we headed to Valley of Fire, and sprinkled a little on us while we were there. But as soon as we left, super dark skies came, with more torrential rain all the way home until Nephi! (about an hour from home).
Valley of Fire is named after the red sandstone formations throughout the large and desolate park which formed from shifting sand dunes during the dinosaur age about 150 million years ago. The formations, are so colorful, they appear to be "on fire" when reflecting the sun's rays. Well, there was no sun when we were there, but it was still amazing.
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| The visitors center is about 15 miles from the freeway down a long windy road leading to what looks like Mars. Notice how colorful the rocks are! |
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| We took a short hike to "Elephant Rock" - do you see the elephant? |
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| Another short hike to "The Wave" - a rock that is very colorful with waves of color. We passed this giant rock wall |
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| We passed these colorful cactus plants |
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| This flat rock face was colorful, but the colors weren't very bright due to the overcast skies, but it was still amazing |
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| Of course, Jacob walked along the top of the ridge |
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| Jacob posing at the top |
We really enjoyed this park and would go back when it was sunny and didn't have a threat of rain!
