It doesn’t matter how many times I’ve been to Valley of Fire; every time I marvel at the vibrant colors and the swoops, swirls, and textures of the sandstone. This was a perfect park to introduce Daniela to the Southwest as it really showcases the unique landscapes of the area. It’s also convenient since it’s a relatively small park with a high density of cool features, so it’s easy to see a lot of the highlights in one hike. My favorite hike to do is combining the Seven Wonders Loop and the White Domes Trail, which is around four miles. These trails can be done separately as two loops, but I find it’s the most practical to combine them.

We parked at the Fire Wave trailhead and started the Seven Wonders Loop on the west side of the road. The Seven Wonders loop is a somewhat recently named route in the park (this official route didn’t exist when we first visited Valley of Fire). Although it is a route versus a trail, the park has put in some signs along the way to guide people and warn them if they have taken a wrong turn. This is one of my favorite areas with some great rock formations, one of the coolest being Crazy Hill and the surrounding sandstone. The colors and patterns are fantastic and it’s a great spot for pictures. We continued south to Kaolin slot which is where the Seven Wonders Loop turns east and we went west through the slot to hook up to the White Domes trail. This is a ~1.3 mile loop through a very short, but scenic, slot canyon and some other colorful rock formations. Once we completed the loop we retraced our steps through Kaolin slot and continued the Seven Wonders Loop. We crossed the road and walked through Pink Canyon and a colorful wash to reach the Fire Wave. This is one of the most popular spots in the park and we were early enough there were only a few other people here. Not only is the Fire Wave an attraction, there are some nice panoramic views of the park here. We had a nice break then finished up the loop back to our car. Terrific hike!

We headed back to the visitor center to check out the exhibits (parking to watch the bighorn sheep along the way) and stopped at Atlatl Rock to see the petroglyphs. Then we were back on the road to St. George for Mexican food and paletas, then the final leg to Springdale where we would stay for two nights (Hampton Inn and Suites was a nice stay!). We arrived in enough time to drive down Zion Canyon as the sun was setting to get a preview of what we would see the next day. It was another early night as I had ambitions to be at Canyon Overlook for sunrise. We were off to a great start!