Detour #335: Into the Valley of Fire, Nevada, USA
Photo Stin Niels Muhsche / Unsplash
Even if you lose in Las Vegas there’s a massive win just a few miles away in the incredible Valley of Fire.
Escape the neon lights, showgirls and slot machines of Vegas on Interstate 15, and chase the vanishing point across the desolate desert plain for 25 miles of Nevada nothingness. Maybe you’ll use this time to hatch a plan to recoup your lost cash, or, better yet, plan how to spend your winnings. Either way you’ll need to think fast as the speed limit is a generous 75 mph and fairly widely ignored by drivers cutting and running from Sin City.
At the massive solar farms of Crystal, take the exit onto the Valley of Fire Highway and enter a dramatic landscape sculpted over millennia by hot winds etching away at towering red sandstone. As the sun moves across the desert sky these rocks react, their colour shifting from warm oranges and browns to bold reds. It’s these ever-changing hues that reminded the first Americans of the flickering of a flame and gave the valley its name. At sunrise and sunset these colour changes are at their most powerful, so plan accordingly if you want to witness the Valley of Fire at its finest.
Photo Jannes Glas / Unsplash
Try to keep your cool on this undulating and curvy road, it’s a much more demanding drive than the Interstate you’ll have just left behind, and it’s also rather easy to become distracted by the gorgeous geology. Such is the valley’s other worldliness that Hollywood often comes to visit when it needs an alien landscape.
Photo Brice Cooper / Unsplash
Along this officially-designated Scenic Byway you’ll encounter numerous natural wonders, such as Arch Rock, Elephant Rock, Rainbow Vista and the, extraordinary multi-layered Fire Wave (above). Time your visit to avoid the hottest months of May to September, when temperatures exceed 38 degrees Centigrade (100 Fahrenheit) and many trails are closed, or you’ll not be able to explore the Valley of Fire State Park on foot. Otherwise you’ll need to observe it all from the air-conditioned cool of your car.
It may only be an hour from the bright lights of Las Vegas but the Valley of Fire feels like a million miles away.
Photo Ajaykumar Kannan / Unsplash
ROADBOOK
CLASS: DESERT DRIVE
NAME: Valley of Fire Highway
ROUTE: Las Vegas to Northshore Road
COUNTRY: USA
Distance: 57 Miles
Even if you lose in Las Vegas there’s a massive win just a few miles away in the incredible Valley of Fire.