Valley of Fire State Park

After Las Vegas, I was craving some natural beauty. I had decided I was too close to Zion National Park not to visit so I turned north towards Utah. On the way, I took a short detour off Interstate 15 to visit Valley of Fire State Park, a desolate flare-up of ruby rock in the middle of the desert.

The weather was pushing 117 degrees, but the scenery--beehive formations, a natural arch, thousand year old petroglyphs etched into giant Atlatl Rock, Fire Canyon, Elephant Rock--was worth the discomfort. I also took a short hike to Fire Wave, a colorfully striped fan of rock. The 1.2 mile out-and-back trail through the glowing desert felt like five in the scorching heat.

The road through the park passes the entrance to the Lake Mead National Recreation Area (I didn't stop) then conveniently connects back to the interstate. I drove a couple more hours, entering Utah through the gorgeous Virgin River Gorge, carved by the same river that carved Zion Canyon, and spent the night in St. George.

The city of about 70,000 sits at the foot of red cliffs and was once where Mormon Leader Brigham Young spent his winters. That evening I took a short drive to appreciate the dusky desert-scape and stopped to see the city's Mormon Tabernacle and Temple.