Fire Wave Trail - Valley of Fire State Park, NV

For Dustin’s birthday, I surprised him with a quick trip to Valley of Fire State Park since he hasn’t been here before. Being a photographer, I knew he would fall in love with this beautiful place. Obviously, the Fire Wave trail was the first thing on our to-do list. This trail is easily the most beautiful hike in the Valley of Fire State Park. It is a short, easy, 1.5 miles round trip hike that will take you to the breathtaking striped sandstone wave. This place is something that you have to see in person. Pictures don’t really do Fire Wave justice. It is similar to the famous The Wave in Arizona but on a smaller scale, and much easier to access.

STATS:

Where:
Fire Wave Trailhead – Mouse’s Tank Rd, Moapa Valley, NV 89040
Coordinates: 36°29’17.7″N 114°31’43.3″W

Parking:
Small dirt parking, across from the trailhead.

Fees:
The entrance fee for Valley of Fire State Park is $10 per vehicle. Check out their website for more info.

Restrooms:
There are no restrooms.

Hours:
Open from sunrise to sunset only

Distance: 1.5 miles round-trip

Elevation: 250 ft

Level: Easy

Estimated Completion Time:
45 minutes to 1.5 hours

Ideal Weather:
Winter and Spring are the best seasons to go. It gets very hot in the summer.

Ideal Time:
Go there early morning or late afternoon, when the temperature is cooler. The lighting is better for pictures too.

Dog-friendly: NO

THE ADVENTURE:

To get to the Fire Wave trailhead, you’ll want to follow Mouse’s Tank Road to go to Park Lot #3. Since Mouse’s Tank Road is a super scenic road, it was so hard to restrain ourselves from stopping every 5 minutes to take photos. However, because the Fire Wave trail is a popular trail and the parking fills up pretty fast. Therefore, we wanted to get there as early as we could. Parking lot #3 is on the left-hand side of Mouse’s Tank Road. Fire Wave trail starts right across the street.

After parking, we headed over to the trailhead. There is a sign there to let you know you’re at the right place. From here, you’ll want to cross over the sandy slope toward a long steep ridge of red sandstone. There are multiple trails on the sandy slope, they should all take you to the same place, toward the steep ridge. The sand here is super silky. It was kind of hard to walk in. Once you get closer in front of the tall cliffs, the trail curves to the right. At this point, the sand becomes more packed, which makes it a lot easier to hike.

The trail travels along the side of the tall rock formation. This rock formation is actually kind of cool, especially for someone who loves exploring as we do. At the end of the formation, there is a tall block of stone called Gibraltar Rock that leans out from the rest of the ridge, rising to just over 2,170 feet. The trail curves to the left here, around this giant rock.

Fire Wave trail is surprisingly well marked. There are clear trail markers along the way so you won’t get lost. Once you turn left and follow through some small boulders and a sandy area, you then approach a slickrock formation. Don’t get too excited, this is not the Fire Wave. Even so, it is really pretty. The whole area is full subtle stripes rock that curve up and down. Multilayers rocks also stretch through the place. These stripes become more vivid as you get closer to the Fire Wave.

We spent at least a good 10 minutes exploring this area. It was such a fun and beautiful place to look around. Once we were done, we headed back onto the main trail. From here, we followed the markers to eventually hike up a slope on another slickrock. I was so distracted by these little round rocks on the ground that by the time I looked up, I was excited to see the colorful mountains off in the distance. At first, I thought that would be where we headed. However, as we looked straight, we were both taken aback by the incredible natural rock formation in front of us. I mean, we see pictures of this place all the time, but to be here, immersed in these orange and white swirls is definitely something else.

The Fire Wave is a wonderland for photographers. It is a natural wonder the way the rock formation shapes and folds itself into colorful, stripy, taffy-like curves. The rocks swirl and spin with colored stripes ranging from yellow, orange, white and red. From here, you can also enjoy the expansive view of the colorful pastel canyon. We could spend hours here just admiring this unique creation of mother nature. Take your time to explore this place. Please be careful if you decide to climb on some of the formations. And please, be respectful to the area, no graffiti or carving on rocks, so the next generation can enjoy it.

Once you’re done here, just head back the way you come from. There are a lot of unique spots to explore here at Valley of Fire. One of them is a short stop at the really cool petroglyph filled Atlatl Rock.

You can hear Dustin’s interview about the Valley of Fire State Park on the Between The Mountains Travel Podcast here

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RECOMMEND GEAR:

Don’t forget to check out our Recommended Gear section as well.

• Hiking shoes
You definitely need hiking shoes for this. Vy’s shoes are North Face HedgeHog GTX. Dustin’s shoes are Coleman Tasman Hiking Shoe.

• Snacks
It is a short hike but I recommend bringing some snacks just in case.

• Sunscreen:
The whole trail is exposed. The sun can get very intense. PLEASE bring sunscreen. We use eco-friendly, reef-safe sunscreen, All Good Organic Sunscreen Butter – Zinc Oxide – Coral Reef Safe and All Good Sport Sunscreen Lotion – Coral Reef Safe (3 oz)(2-Pack) or Stream2Sea SPF 30 Reef Safe Sport Tinted Sunscreen.

• Water
Bring more than you think you need. It gets very toasty on this trail. Vy uses the Camelback L.U.X.E. Dustin uses the Clik Small pack (sadly Clik is no longer around)

CAMERA GEAR:
• Camera:
Sony a7 III
Gopro Hero 7 Black

• Lenses:
Sony 24 -70mm f/2.8 Carl Zeiss Vario Sonnar T Zoom Lens

• Accessories:
GoPro The Handler Floating Hand Grip – Official GoPro Mount
Aluminum GoPro protection frame