Valley of Fire – Fire Wave (Seven Wonders) and White Domes Loops

November 5th, 2023

After hiking for two days in Red Rock Canyon, we took a day off for paragliding. We then drove to the absolutely stunning Valley of Fire park. Wow. I’m glad we saved this for last. I booked a campsite within the park, and I would highly recommend this option. The Park closes at night, so if you don’t have a campsite, you have to wait for the park to open to begin hiking. Also, your campsite fee covers the park entrance.

The trails here are much shorter and have less elevation gain than Red Rock Canyon. This meant we hiked several trails in one day. Getting used to the desert heat, and overcast skies also helped. I think we did all the Must See hikes.

As in Red Rock Canyon, we headed straight to the Visitor’s Centre. Unlike at Red Rock, we did not get a warm welcome (rather snarky, but anyone can have a bad day) or helpful advice. The bathroom wasn’t open, and I can’t remember if there was water there or not. No matter. It’s a small park, and everything is well signed.

We noticed all the vehicles were bee-lining it up the White Domes Road, so we quickly fell into line to see what was up. We found the Fire Wave trail sign, and thought this was a great place to start. Whoa! Absolutely amazing topography and colours.

We hiked the whole loop, which was less than 3 km. If you can only do one hike, then make it the Fire Wave / Seven Wonders Loop.

We had a lot of fun in the canyons as well. These are so cool. As you can see in the video, they reminded my husband of a certain movie.

As the parking lots were filling up, we decided to leave our van parked, and hiked over to the White Domes loop. That lot was even MORE packed than ours, and people were parked way back on the road. Bonus? We saw some interesting rocks on the connector and we had it all to ourselves.

Gear

Running shoes, and regular day pack kit. Lots of water.

Overview

From the Fire Wave parking lot, head straight for the giant red wall of sandstone. Follow the signage on the trails. To complete the loop, keep going at the Seven Wonders sign. The trail does peter out near the White Domes. The trick is to go hard right.

Once back at the trail head, we crossed the road, and picked up the trail that lead to the White Domes Loop. We hiked the loop clockwise (which I think is recommended due to a tight canyon???), and then hiked back to our campervan.

Totals – Downloadable Tracks and Displayed on Strava

Date: November 5th, 2023
Group:  Two (Alisen & Mike)
Distance:  7.2 km
Elevation:  150 m (495′)
Time:  2 hours 15 minutes (includes lunch and breaks)

Parking and Trail Head

Park at the second last lot, before the road takes the big U-turn left. Head directly east towards the giant red sandstone tower. I have to say, the entrance does not give away the wonders that are to be found on this trail.

Main Trail

Almost immediately, we are provided with amazing views and interesting rock formations. The striations and colour mixing is simply astounding. I could spend hours just exploring and taking photos. There are lots of signage posts, and rock cairns with pointers to keep you on the right trail.

It was soon obvious why this trail is called Fire Wave. Each feature was seemingly better than the last.

We noticed that most people were turning around at the end of the Fire Wave trail. I think the Moderately Strenuous put them off. To be honest, it was probably just as strenuous to turn around and hike back up to the trail head. Adding the Seven Wonders trail is about 1/3 more distance though.

The Seven Wonders Loop was equally amazing. I probably liked it a bit better because of the narrow canyons, and the endlessly changing topography.

We walked from one interesting rock formation to the next. Lots of swirls and striations.

Fire Wave – White Dome Connector Trail

After hiking back to the campervan, we grabbed a quick bite and some more water. As the park was getting very busy, we didn’t want to give up our parking spot. The line of traffic heading towards White Dome was long. We checked the map, and decided to hike across to the White Domes trail. This was ideal as A) no one else was here, and B) the cars were lined up down the road, so we possibly hiked less than if we drove.

White Domes Loop

White Domes was very busy. I think seeing the old movie set was quite the draw. The parking lot was packed, and it was impossible to get close to the info signs at the start of the trail. We headed straight in, and were surprised by how steep the entrance is. There were quite a few elderly people struggling to get down to the valley below.

Once down in the valley, the movie set was pretty cool, but there were lots of little nooks and crannies to explore. This is not a very big area, and people were everywhere. I got the impression people got down here, and then stayed for a while.

I “believe” this trail is one-way due to the steep entrance, and the tight canyon on the exit. We did see people entering the trail at the exit, which was due to having to park WAY down the road.

Wrap Up

Right off the bat, we found the BEST hiking trails in the park. Both the Fire Wave and the White Dome loops are worth doing. Take your time, because they are both fairly short. Even with the connector back and forth, it was just over 7 km.

Thanks for reading! You can follow my blog, join my FaceBook page Al’s Adventurers, or follow me on Instagram

Alisen