Two friends and I drove out to the Valley of Fire State Park for a look at more wild Las Vegas.   The Valley of Fire is only 55 miles northeast of Las Vegas, but it seems a world away.

There are camping sites and hiking trails in the park.  We stopped to view the petroglyphs at Atlatl Rock, the petrified logs, and toured the Ranger Station.

From the ranger station the road winds north through the red rocks.  We stopped to walk a short distance along Rainbow Vista trail.

We were surprised to see a group of Desert Bighorn Sheep, the official Nevada state animal.  We saw just a few at first, then more.

We followed a few of the sheep through the red sand.  They were shy but not terribly afraid of people.

We saw most of the Desert Bighorn Sheep around the Fire Canyon Road.   Continuing northbound you reach the White Domes Area.  There is a 45 minute hike at the end of the road.  The only other wildlife we saw were Antelope Ground Squirrels.

FIRE CANYON ROAD

Driving back out towards the ranger station we saw a group of young sheep.

We entered at the west entrance, and departed the east entrance.  The last rock formation is Elephant Rock, near the east entrance.