I know this isn't a National Park Service property, but we were so impressed with it while we were there, that it deserves some mention. This park is located northwest of Las Vegas, in between Las Vegas and Zion National Park, so it was a beautiful stop along the way. It consists of a large wilderness area with many hikes, and a visitors center.

We stopped at the visitor center to get some idea of the hikes that were available, and how difficult each one was. We started with the White Domes hike, which was listed as "easy". I guess it was, but there was some difficulty as well, especially since a lot of it was sandy. The hike was a loop, which was nice, so that there was no back tracking involved. It was really beautiful.

After finishing the White Domes hike, we headed back towards the visitor center, and stopped at the Mouse's Tank hike. It was cool, because there were Petroglyph writings on the walls, indicating the way to fresh water. Along the hike, we saw Big Horned Sheep (at least that is what I think they were called). There were about a dozen other people on the trail, and we all stopped to look at the sheep. The sheep seemed interested in us too, and were watching, as they slowly made their way down the cliff. Eventually, the other hikers moved along, and we were the only ones standing there. All of a sudden, two of the sheep made a run down the cliff RIGHT AT US - we turned around and high-tailed it outta there. They were kinda scary!

For more information about Valley of Fire State Park, please visit the website at: http://www.valley-of-fire.com/

#Nevada