We had never been to the Valley of Fire about 50 miles northeast of Las Vegas, but we had been before to Death Valley. On our most recent trip to Las Vegas we managed to go to both valleys.
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| Valley of Fire Visitor Center |
Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada
The Valley of Fire, Nevada’s first state park (1935), is an area of ancient sandstone and sand dunes at an elevation of between 2000 and 2600 feet. The valley has been often used for both TV and movie filming: “The Professionals” starring Burt Lancaster and Lee Marvin and “Star Trek Generation” were filled there.
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| Valley of Fire Landscape |
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| Big Horn Sheep in Valley of Fire |
Prehistoric users of the valley include Basket Maker people and later the Anasazi (Navajo for “Ancient Ones”) Pueblo farmers from nearby Moapa Valley.
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| Sun and Pinnacle on Mouse's Tank Trail |
Native peoples used the Valley of Fire from about 300 B.C.E. to 1150 C.E. for hunting, food gathering, and religious ceremonies. One of the main features of today’s park is the rock art found particularly along the Mouse’s Tank trail and Atlatl trail.
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| Anasazi Petroglyphs Carved on Rock varnish |
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| Symbols for Shaman and Circle of Life |
We spent time photographing the scenery and especially the petroglyphs along Mouse’s Tank trail. The Tank refers to two natural potholes in the sandstone rock part way down a waterfall (usually dry) at the end of the canyon that hold water longer than other places.
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| Ceremonial Dancers and Big Horn Sheep |
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| Petroglyphs along Mouse's Tank trail |
And it’s called Mouse’s Tank after a southern Paiute Indian named Little Mouse who hid in the area to avoid (unsuccessfully) a lynching party. The trail is one of the riches areas for petroglyphs—symbols carved into the surface of rock varnish or desert varnish (glossy black, brown, or orange-brown layer of natural chemical deposit on rock surfaces, mainly in the desert).
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| Petrified Log in Valley of Fire |
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| View from Rainbow Vista in Valley of Fire State Park |
Besides the Anasazi carved symbols, the area is rich in geological splendor.
Death Valley, California
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| Nopah Mountain Range at the South End of Death Valley (from the east). |
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| Nopah Mountain Range |
In Death Valley (California) we stayed at Stovepipe Wells Village in the north end of the valley. The motel provides decent and relatively inexpensive accommodation as well as a small grocery store, gift shop, bar, and restaurant (average at best). On this trip we had some good photo opportunities with sun, clouds, and clean air one day—the next day was much hazier.
There is plenty to see in Death Valley and on this trip we tried to do things we hadn’t on our last visit. Before we dropped into the Valley at Furnace Creek (Hwy 190) we drove the three miles dirt road (easily passable by passenger cars, especially if they are rentals) of Twenty Mule Team Canyon.
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| The Road through Twenty Mule Team Canyon |
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| Twenty Mule Team Canyon |
The eight mile paved road called Artist Drive is also great for photographers.
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| View on Hwy 190 above Death Valley |
A highlight for us was Salt Creek—a boardwalk along a small stream which is home to the rare pupfish and several species of small birds.
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| Sunset at Salt Creek |
On the way out of the park we stopped at the ghost town of Ryolite on our way to Beatty in Nevada.
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| Ryolite ghost Town Relic |
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| Even Beatty, NV, Is Starting to Look Like a Ghost Town |
The two valleys are great places to explore and photograph, but always in the desert caution is necessary. Be safe, especially in extreme heat, and be aware of the fragility of the desert environment and the artifacts left by the “Ancient Ones.”
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| Rock on Hwy 374 Near Titus Canyon in Death Valley |
Feedback Please: Let me know your favorite photo from each valley--tell me which photos I should mount up and frame for sale.
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