By Bob Difley
With Spring but weeks away and the desert sun burning hotter and hotter, you might be starting to think about heading back home and planting the garden. The temptation is there to get a head start, but instead of heading directly home on the way, try a different location for a few days or a week, a high desert location that would be too cold in mid-winter, and too hot in the summer, but right now might be, as baby bear said, just right.
One place that comes to mind is Valley of Fire State Park in the Mojave Desert 55 miles north of Las Vegas and only six miles from Lake Mead. Valley of Fire is Nevada’s oldest and largest state park and gets its name from the the park’s red sandstone formations. This park brings out the little boy in all of us, climbing the rocks, peering into eroded caves and through holes and arches, playing cowboys and Indians, and giving names to the odd formations–bee hives, elephant rock, and grand piano.
You can also find petrified logs, big horn sheep, Indian petroglyphs, secret slot canyons, an old movie site, and a rainbow of colors in the geologic formations. Paved scenic drives access most of the park’s attractions, but several hikes wind in and out of the strange and mysterious rocky formations.
There are primitive, nicely private, first-come-first-serve campsites tucked in the rock formations and some have water and electricity hookups. But don’t worry about driving in here and being shut out of a campsite, even if they are full the park will accommodate you in an overflow area.
Now is the time to visit the park. It is open all year, but the Spring weather is perfect. The classy visitor center provides lots of information on the area as well as interpretive displays. This is an interesting and unique destination, and a break between your your winter snowbird roosting area and the place you call home.
For the complete guide to boondocking, check out my eBook, BOONDOCKING: Finding the Perfect Campsite on America’s Public Lands.