valley of fire state park & Hoover dam

Our 3rd day in Las Vegas we planned to visit Valley of Fire State Park and the Hoover Dam. We had planned on doing Hoover Dam first but as tired as we were getting we decided to do the Park first.

I knew we made the right decision, when we started the scenic drive and immediately saw Big Horn Sheep right beside our car. As we drove around we stopped periodically and did some light hiking and climbing on rocks.

There were so many beautiful red rocks. The drive is breathtaking. We were excited to see some amazing petroglyphs.

We really enjoyed our morning at Valley of Fire state park. We could have hiked longer for sure but we had reservations at the Hoover Dam we needed to get to. After we left Valley of Fire, we turned left and ate lunch in Overton. There are just a handful of restaurants there (if that many). We ended up at the Mexican place. After lunch we headed towards Hoover Dam via the Lake Mead Recreation area.

I had been to the Hoover Dam, 15 years ago. I forgot how impressive it was. We had reservations for the power plant tour. We could have upgraded to a longer tour when we checked in but we knew we were losing daylight so we opted to stick with our shorter tour.

My family enjoyed the tour. It starts with and then they take you down into the Dam. We had two elevator rides on this tour that moved very fast. I am claustrophobic and I didn’t have time to panic. I highlighted where the building we went to on the tour.

Overall, this was a great pairing for day trips. I think my family could have had more time at the Hoover Dam and been happy. They really loved it.