Howdy there friends and welcome to the
almost world-famous Cactus Atlas.
On today's episode I'm exploring a certain
section of the Valley of Fire State Park
known as Fire Canyon Road/Silica Dome
and just checking it out.
Seeing what it's all about.
I've never explored it and I'd love to
have you come with me and explore together.
So if you want to find out what it's like,
stick around and let's go check it out.
Here's where you turn
to get on the Fire Canyon Road.
According to the pamphlet that you get
from the visitors center, they're very
particular about you not pulling over on
any spots here except for designated spots.
I'm not sure why that's different than other
places in the park but it is what it is.
Here's one of the first designated pull offs.
It's very clear. It's paved.
Let's see what this is all about.
I believe Fire Canyon is off that way.
You're starting to see the
really beautiful red tops of some of
those stone formations down there.
Those sandstone formations.
But uh.... yeah.
It looks like maybe you can walk
down this way a little bit so let's go check it out.
I think I'm gonna just walk out to the
edge there of that sandstone
and see if I get a nice view
of the valley in front of me here.
It looks like it keeps on going.
While with that over there...
That is a money shot.
What do you guys think...
should I climb up one of these?
Get a better vantage point?
I think so. I think this one will do.
It's a little bit further out than this one.
A little steeper too.
But I think it'll do just nicely.
You get some nice colors too here.
I some purples, some reds, some tans.
Really pretty sandstone.
And actually here too. Look at this.
[Music]
Alright let's climb up this little bad boy here.
[Music]
Oh wow.
I don't want to fall. That would not be good.
But look at the view you get from over here.
[Music]
You can see my car way off in the distance.
It wasn't that far though to walk.
I'm gonna make one more stop right down there.
I see some purple sandstone
that I want to get a closer look at.
Some really cool colored stone over here too
of the purplish-red variety.
Maybe vermillion? I don't know.
While I'm here,
let's walk out to the edge of this formation.
Get one last money shot of those
beautiful red sandstone structures up ahead.
Now on a lot of the videos I talked
about these ridges you see on these rocks.
Look how pronounced they are here.
Can you see that?
So in all my journeys so far,
I've not seen anything quite like those
ridges that just kind of stand up
several inches tall.
Very thin.
That is amazing.
So if you want to see something like that,
you just kind of have to
explore on your own I guess.
[Music fades]
That was the first little stop I made.
There is an official paved pull off and
I pulled over and decided to venture out
of little ways and that ended up
being absolutely amazing.
That was great.
I think I see another pull off here but
it's kind of overlooking similar stuff.
I will at least take a look but I don't
know if I'm going to hike down there.
Although I do see a much more
established trail this time.
So let's have a looksee. Why not?
As you can see here, compared to the
last one we just did, this trail is much
more worn and clearer making me hope
that there's even better money shots to
be had from over here.
So walking through these deserts I am
usually looking around. I'm not afraid.
But a couple of people I've talked to
at my campsite have told me to watch
out for rattlesnakes.
I would have thought that
it's past the season
but apparently they're out there.
I was told a camouflage very well.
I haven't seen nor heard anything. Yet.
Yeah, this stop is very picturesque.
It gives you a great view of this Fire Canyon
out that way.
Highly recommended.
[Music]
So far I found that Fire Canyon Road and
these stops are very peaceful.
Very few people.
In fact I just encountered my
first of the day in this whole section.
I'm a little bit ahead of them
so chances are I'll have
stuff up ahead all to myself.
I'm at the end of Fire Canyon Road.
It was a pretty short drive with
those two pull offs.
I'm at the place called Silica Dome
As you can see I'm the only car
here in this parking lot right now.
There is a restroom.
I would say from this parking lot, this
might be one of the best views
of that Fire Canyon up ahead.
This is indeed the Silica Dome up ahead
I read some signage and it basically said that,
you know, this place has very well known
domes that are made of almost pure silica.
That's what that taller dome in the background is.
I'm heading out the end of this trail here
The end of the world.
[Music]
There's your Silica Dome right there...
which is what you'll see on the signage
to get to this area off of the main roads.
Yeah, it's pretty spectacular I would say.
Pretty, but not too much color.
But this area down here is really cool.
It's just really neat to think of the
sand dunes that formed these back
in the age of the dinosaurs.
I just noticed there's another trail
that heads off down this way.
I see some really nice
clear sandstone color down that way.
So I'm gonna go explore.
Oh yeah. Look at these layers.
Number one, that's got my eye first
but even down here you have yellow
and orange colored stripes mixed
in there with a red.
I have not seen that yet.
At least it hasn't jumped out at
me if it has, but up here...
[Music]
These are very nicely defined layers here.
Oh yeah and there's that bacon looking coloration.
Look at that. It kind of like...
it's a waterfall of bacon almost
trickling down this hill here.
Ah! And look at this, like golden colored waves.
It almost looks like some kind of
an algae or something on there.
I think one of the best tips I can give you
for visiting here is keep an eye out
for really colorful formations
or interesting things.
You'll often times see trails
that someone else has paved but you need
to look out for these things and you
need to be a little adventurous and step
out a little bit and you'll be rewarded
with some really cool Easter eggs here
at this park in the form of just lots of
colorful things and new things that you
probably haven't seen yet in the park.
Alright, so I'm at the end of the road
quite literally and I wanted to give you
a few final thoughts about my experience
today on the Fire Canyon Road/Silica Dome stop.
If you really take advantage of this
adventure here in the park,
stop at all the pull offs and wander off
down the trails to get to the scenic vistas...
I think you're gonna see some really cool things.
The standouts for me were the views of
Fire Canyon that you get
if you wander out or from
this final lookout point
as well as the very colorful
layered sandstone that I saw here.
I saw all sorts of colors ranging
from purple to red,
even yellows and oranges.
Shades that I have not seen
anywhere else in the park yet.
So it was well worth it just for that
alone to be honest with you.
I would highly recommend stopping
and doing this drive if you have time.
Now with that said, if you're doing
a day trip from Las Vegas
or somewhere nearby and don't
have that much time
you may unfortunately have to pass this
one up in favor of seeing some other
very notable features like the Fire Wave
and the White Domes.
But if you have time,
I suggest doing this road and taking
your time and venturing out a little bit
and see what you will discover.
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Well, I really enjoyed exploring this
section of Valley of Fire State Park today
and i'm very happy to have had you with me
me on this journey and I look forward to
seeing you on the next one
which will be right around the corner.
So until then... take it easy.
[Music]