The drive was extremely scenic though, so it might have actually been worth that extra admission anyway. Taking 167 out of Vegas (as opposed to the boring drive on 15), we had to pass through Lake Mead National Recreation Area, which admittedly would have been a drawback had our National Parks All Access Pass not gotten us through free. Since access to shower facilities were included in the $10 per vehicle day fee to the park anyway, this was a win-win.
Valley of Fire has two campgrounds within the park, but we had heard about a relatively popular BLM area informally called, “Snowbird Mesa” in Overton, NV, and wanted to give it a try. Since we were planning to pick our friend, Rob, up at the airport the next morning and swing by Valley of Fire en route to Utah, this was the perfect positioning and gave us one of the most serene nights we’ve had. This led us to find an awesome Bureau of Land Management site just outside of Valley of Fire State Park, about an hour Northeast of Vegas. Hence, we wanted to try out a few different sites in the area to switch it up a bit. The southern edge of the black formations is only 14 miles from the start of the dazzling white dunes of the White Sands National Monument, just one of many striking contrasts in the state of New Mexico.Las Vegas was a bit of a hub to meet up with family and friends, so we were in and out of the area several times over the course of a few weeks.
#Valley of fire recreation area free#
Day use fees start at $3 (in 2020) for a vehicle with one person, avoidable by parking along the highway just outside the entrance and walking directly into the lava - but then all other parts of the vast lava field, away from the small recreation area, are also free to explore. Apart from a partly paved, 3/4 mile nature loop trail on the west wide of the campground, and an unmaintained path at the south end of the ridge, opportunities to explore the surroundings are somewhat limited as the surface is sharp and unstable, but off-trail hiking is quite possible with care.
Views are good but the place is quite exposed, so is often very windy, and hot in summer most people visit in spring and fall. The campsite has 19 sites, all equipped with tables, grills, drinking water and metal shelters, and some with electric hookups. Plant life is typical of the northern Chihuahuan Desert common species include banana yucca, sotol, echinocereus, opuntia, cane cholla, mesquite, sumac and creosote bushes. It is however quite well preserved, with interesting geological features including lava caves, pressure ridges, collapsed gas bubbles and two types of lava - rough blocks of aa and ropy flows of pahoehoe. The volcanic action responsible was relatively recent, occurring between 1,500 and 5,000 years ago, but the lava has become quite overgrown with grass and small bushes so the landscape is generally greenish in color rather than black, less of a dramatic spectacle than other Southwest deposits such as Sunset Crater in Arizona or the Fantastic Lava Beds in Lassen Volcanic National Park, California. The ridge is a small remnant of the land before the eruption, just high enough to remain uncovered.
A short side road ends at a BLM-managed campsite, on a ridge of Dakota sandstone which overlooks a large expanse of lava, extending to low hills over 10 miles away on the hazy horizon. The Valley of Fires lava fields are reached by driving 4 miles northwest along US 380 from the junction with US 54 at Carrizozo.
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