The Valley of Fire Road (also called the Valley of Fire Highway) is a road in northeastern Clark County,

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

serving the

Valley of Fire State Park Valley of Fire State Park is a public recreation and nature preservation area covering nearly located south of Overton, Nevada. The state park derives its name from red sandstone formations, the Aztec Sandstone, which formed from shifting san ...

. The roadway was previously designated State Route 40 (SR 40), and the segment within the state park is currently designated a

Nevada Scenic Byway The U.S. state of Nevada maintains a system of scenic byways throughout the state. Currently, there are 20 designated state scenic byways. Some of these state scenic byways have also been incorporated into national byway designations. State scen ...

Route description

Valley of Fire Road The western terminus of the Valley of Fire Road is at the

Interstate 15 Interstate 15 (I-15) is a major Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway in the western United States, running through Southern California and the Intermountain West. I-15 begins near the Mexico–United States border, Mexican border i ...

(I-15) exit 75, located at the former

Crystal A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macros ...

townsite within the

Moapa River Indian Reservation The Moapa Band of Paiute Indians of the Moapa River Indian Reservation are a federally recognized tribe of Southern Paiute, who live in southern Nevada on the Moapa River Indian Reservation. They were in the past called the Muappa / Moapat and th ...

approximately northeast of downtown

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

. From there, the two-lane highway travels southeasterly about through open desert terrain towards the

Muddy Mountains The Muddy Mountains are a large mountain range in Clark County, Nevada. The Muddy Mountains surround a north section of Bitter Spring Valley, which also lies at the northwest perimeter of the Black Mountains, lying on a north shore of an east-w ...

. The road begins to follow more a more hilly and curvaceous path as it meanders through the mountains. Around the 12-mile mark, the road officially enters the Valley of Fire State Park boundary and the scenic route begins, with the state park's west entrance station coming approximately east of there. Beyond the fee station, Valley of Fire Road traverses the southern reaches of the state park, passing nearby to various campgrounds, trails, the visitor center, and other points of interest. The mountainous landscape adjoining the highway becomes much more colorful, reflective of the terrain featured in the park. Valley of Fire Road spends roughly in the park before passing the east entrance station near Elephant Rock, where the scenic byway designation ends. The roadway reaches its eastern terminus east of there, at an intersection with Northshore Road within the

Lake Mead National Recreation Area Lake Mead National Recreation Area is a U.S. national recreation area in southeastern Nevada and northwestern Arizona. Operated by the National Park Service, Lake Mead NRA follows the Colorado River corridor from the westernmost boundary of Gran ...

approximately south of Overton. Payment of a state park entrance fee is required to travel on Valley of Fire Road between the west and east entrance stations. As of June 2021, the day use entrance fee is 10 per vehicle and 15 per non-Nevada vehicle.

History

50px, left, The Valley of Fire Road was designated SR 40 c. 1935-1976 A county road appearing in an approximately parallel alignment of the Valley of Fire Road appears on official state highway maps as early as 1933. However, the road proceeded much more easterly from

U.S. Route 91 U.S. Route 91 or U.S. Highway 91 (US-91) is a north–south United States highway running from Brigham City, Utah, to Idaho Falls, Idaho, in the U.S. states of Idaho and Utah. Despite the "1" as the last digit in the number, US-91 is no lon ...

(US 91) and SR 6 at Crystal to connect to SR 12 near St. Thomas, bypassing north of the Valley of Fire. This roadway was marked as State Route 40 by 1935, and was shown along a route connecting Crystal more directly to Overton on SR 12, a distance of roughly . By 1941, SR 40 was moved to a new alignment that resembles the present-day alignment of the Valley of Fire Road—the new routing was an unimproved, roadway traversing the southern side of the Valley of Fire State Park. The road was finally paved by 1964. In 1976, the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) began an effort to renumber its state highways. In this process, the SR 40 designation along Valley of Fire Road was proposed to be combined with SR 12 into a new State Route 169. This new highway designation was first seen on state highway maps in 1978. This action ultimately was not carried out, leaving the Valley of Fire Road without a state route number by 1982. However, as of 2020, the portion of Valley of Fire Road within the state park boundaries is still maintained by NDOT as a state park road. A section of the Valley of Fire Road—the portion between the west and east entrances to the state park—was designated a

Route description

History

Major intersections

See also

References

External links