This park was certainly named appropriately. Hot doesn’t begin to cover it, everyday brought a new health advisory from the park rangers. The park is open year round, and since it was off season, we were able to drive in and get a great campsite with wonderful views. The sites had both water and power, and a very nice bathhouse.
This is where we really tested our ability to handle high temperatures. We were about to camp in weather that averaged 108 degrees, even at night! Can we do it? Well, yes, but it involved using our outdoor shower fully clothed, keeping all vents and windows open, and a little fan blasting away. During this time, I purchased my favorite camping tool: a fan/spray bottle combo. Those cool rags we bought were a great help, too.
The sandstone in this part range in color from Red, to grey, to tan, and so many shades in-between. The colors changed with each sunrise and sunset.
Rainbow Vista took our breath away every time we drove through the area. This was easily our favorite part of the park.
One of the coolest discoveries in Valley of Fire were the cabins built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in the 1930s. Tucked away behind these cabins were some petroglyphs carved into the rocks about 2,500 years ago. They are somewhat hidden, and amazingly preserved.
The cabins are located down one of many roads we encountered that had vehicle size restrictions. Anyone able to drop their camper, fifth wheel, or trailer at their campsite and drive their main vehicle (or tow-able) to the site would have no trouble getting down to the cabins. If the weather was more reasonable, it would be a nice bike excursion, too.
Here are some more photos from our trip, we hope you like them:
Traveling Team Fischer 