Exploring Nevada – Red Rock Canyon and Valley of Fire

November 2 – 7, 2023

My husband is an airline pilot, and has a pretty regular work schedule. Sometimes, things get a bit wonky and he has blocks of open time. What to do with an unexpected week off in November? Head south!

While I’ve had Nevada on my radar for a few years, I haven’t done much research. For this trip, I had about two days to plan it. All I did was book a campervan, some campsites, and the earliest timed entries at Red Rock Canyon. Other than that, I didn’t have any plans on where to hike or explore.

What to do? Thankfully, both the Red Rock Canyon and the Valley of Fire have visitor’s centres. While both had nice buildings and washrooms, Rock Rock was the clear winner in terms of service. They had a water filling station, and the people were true experts who gave us great information on where to hike. We even got a free tear off printed map.

Valley of Fire … not so friendly. I don’t like being snarky, because anyone can have a bad day. I will say, the Valley of Fire is self-explanatory. All hikes are super obvious and right off the road. I would have appreciated a little local knowledge but oh well.

Camping and BLM

I love traveling in Steve, my 1991 VW Westphalia campervan. With limited time, we flew to Las Vegas and rented a Solis from Indie Campers. Having a shower and toilet? I’m now spoiled. Sorry Steve – your days may be numbered.

I booked two nights at the Red Rock Canyon campground. This is located just outside the Red Rock Canyon park. There are pit toilets, picnic tables, sun shades, and not much else. It’s dry and dusty, which is what you’d expect from a desert campground. That’s okay – we really only pulled in to sleep.

I also booked two nights at the Valley of Fire campground. I was very glad I chose to camp inside the park, because the gates close every night. Camping inside the park meant an early start for hiking to avoid the heat, and allowed us to explore as late as possible before sunset.

BLM Random Camping. We also did some random camping on BLM lands. I’m not a great random camper, but I have learned to find to a site while it is still light out. The desert is DARK! It’s really hard to tell exactly where you are once you turn off the main road. We once parked in a solar field, and were quickly (but nicely) escorted out by security 🙂

Gear

Hiking boots/running shoes, poles (only for the big Red Rock Canyon hikes) and regular day pack kit.

The trails are mostly sand. If getting sand in your shoes is an issue, then I recommend some small, lightweight ankle gaiters. This will be warmer than not wearing gaiters, so comfort vs heat management is to be considered.

Water

Ensure you have enough water. While it’s pretty obvious that the desert is hot and dry, it is really, REALLY hot and dry. I live in a very dry (high desert) climate, and I found Nevada ridiculously dry. Despite visiting in November, the sun was determined to bake down on us all day. I think it took us three days to get acclimatized.

Both of the Visitor Centres had water fountains, but there isn’t water at the trail heads. As I was in a campervan, I had cold water as soon as I got off the trail. If you’re in a car, bring a cooler with cold water for after your hikes.

Heat Stroke

There were signs warning about the dangers of hiking in the heat. While we were fine in November, I have read of several deaths in various US deserts from people hiking in hot weather.

Know the signs of heat stroke. Know yourself and what you can handle.

For the first few days, after each hike I would collapse in my campervan and drink a tonne of water. Not because I was out of shape, or that the hikes were particularly hard. These hikes were fairly easy, in terms of what I was used to, but the heat and sand walking sapped my energy. I’d take an hour to recover, and then head back out for more. Again, know yourself, and be smart about not pushing past your limits.

Red Rock Canyon Hikes

When we arrived at Red Rock Canyon, we headed straight for the Red Rock Canyon Visitor’s Centre. This was a great spot to start as there are washrooms, and water bottle filling stations. The employee’s were fantastic. I walked up to the counter, and asked for the longest and most difficult hikes they had. I was given a map, and some excellent advice.

Unfortunately, we only had two days at Red Rock Canyon, so I did not explore every nook and cranny like I would have LOVED to do. Below are the places I did get to.

• Turtlehead Peak – a highlight hike with a view
• Calico Tanks – surprise!
• White Rock Mountain – a long and beautiful loop hike
• Petroglyph Wall – short jaunt to see wall carvings

Valley of Fire Hikes

While we only had two days here, the hikes are much shorter so we could easily do several hikes in a day. This meant we explored just about every trail. We were now getting acclimatized to the hot and dry desert, so hiking all day wasn’t as bad as when I first arrived. I have grouped several hikes together. Two were actual continuous hikes (loops), while others were individual trails where we had to stop and hike.

• Fire Wave and White Domes Loops – Two ‘Must See” trails
• Balance Rock, Mouse’s Tank, Rainbow Vista and Silica Dome Hikes – Four easy hikes in a row
• Pagoda Arch, Beehive, Atlatl Rock and Arch Rock Loop – So much to see in this loop
• “Roadside Attractions” – various things to see along the road

Other Activities

As Mike is a paraglider, he contacted the local paragliding community in Good Springs – the Desert Skywalkers. They were heading out on the Saturday, and were kind enough to meet us and escort us to the landing zone and launch. A very friendly and welcoming group! As everyone wants to fly down, finding someone to drive your car back down is not easy. That’s where I came in. After everyone launched, I drove a temperamental Toyota truck named Jackie back to the landing zone.

We also visited Lake Mead. Though the wind was up, we managed a little swim in a sheltered cove.

While I realize there is SO much more to Nevada than Red Rock Canyon and the Valley of Fire, this was my first foray here. I will definitely have to come back, and extend my explorations. If you have a favourite spot for me to visit, please comment on where you think I should go next.

Alisen