Nevada’s First State Park

Nevada's first state park is made of fire-colored stone. The red sandstone here, weathered into fantastic shapes over millions of years and carved with petroglyphs by ancient peoples, drew early calls for protection as Nevadans began demanding access to the outdoors in the 1920s. A 1931 land exchange transferred federal acreage to the state; the ground was dedicated as Valley of Fire in 1934, and in 1935 the legislature established it as Nevada's first state park. Civilian Conservation Corps crews built the early roads. The park still blazes red at sunrise and sunset northeast of Las Vegas.

What the plaque says

Along with most Americans, Nevadans by the 1920’s began to demand greater access to the outdoors, precipitating early efforts on the part of the legislature to designate state lands for recreational use. Building on those efforts, a 1931 land exchange transferred 8760 acres of federal land to the state at Nevada. In 1934, that land was officially dedicated as Valley of Fire, Nevada’s first state park. The following year, Nevada’s legislature established this and three other parks at Beaver Dam, Cathedral Gorge and Kershaw-Ryan. These parks owe much of their early infrastructure to the work of Civilian Conservation Corps crews led by Thomas W. Miller of Reno, who also served as the first chairman of the State Parks Commission. By 2015, Valley of Fire State had grown fourfold, and is recognized internationally for its outstanding scenic, geologic, and archaeological features.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Valley of Fire State Park — 3.7 mi
  Jurassic sand dunes turned to blazing red stone — Nevada's oldest and largest state park
• Lost City Museum — 8.4 mi
  The Ancestral Puebloan metropolis Lake Mead drowned — and the museum that saved what it could
• Lake Mead National Recreation Area — 26 mi
  The largest reservoir in the country — and its most legible drought gauge

More markers nearby

• Arrowhead Trail (1914- 1924) — 2.8 mi
• Pueblo Grande De Nevada — 7.8 mi
• Powell of the Colorado — 9.9 mi
• Moapa Valley — 14 mi