Valley of Fire, The Fire Wave Trail

One of the most colorful places we have visited in Nevada is Valley of Fire State Park. My little family and I frequent this magical place filled with sandstone creations. Each hike has a different pigment of the stone and variations in the sand. A trail we particularly loved to run on was the Fire wave trail. We first came across this path while hiking. My husband sat to relax and I painted. Later, we both grew to love it for our run. It has a nice balance of flat terrain and hills to push ourselves. I am glad we always took the time to stop and appreciate such a beautiful place! This is on our list of places to explore again with our daughter.

The trail is quiet and peaceful in the early hours when the sun is just starting to rise. The flowers bloom alongside the sandy path. Our dog loved to stop and smell the flowers when they were first starting to wake up. We were all intrigued by the cactus flowers. My husband liked to try and figure out if the desert tortoises had eaten any of the paddles and I liked photographing them for future paintings. 

The trail came to a downhill slide into a wash. The wash was filled with sand and stone where we could spend hours exploring. The erosion and lines in the rock are captivating. The run was very tranquil and afterwards we hiked for a while so we could take photos of what we really enjoyed. I was thankful that I was able to go home and paint our memories and then share them with everyone. Recently, I have really been excited about painting the many different species of flowers in the desert. The Fire Wave trail was filled with so much beauty and it was hard to see it all in one trip. The desert is ever changing with wind, sands of time, and glorious rain storms. We see something new each time we visit the park. We are grateful that we live so close to this wonderful place.

The hike can get really hot in the summertime so be careful and always remember to bring a water bottle! I hope you enjoy this post and are able to find an amazing hike where you live that you truly love. Please contact me with any suggestions, or leave them in the comments for everyone! Have a Marvelous Monday and Thank You for Reading!

-Karen Hilliard

Also, if you would like another way to show support, I have a few options. “Buy me a coffee” which is a way for anyone to contribute to the creative process behind the paintings. Fuel the artist so to speak. Here is the link if you are interested. The funds go to supplies and gas to get out to the trails. I truly appreciate the support and the fact that you are liking these blogs, as well as my art posts. I am working hard to bring you all fresh content! Here is the link to my Instagram where I try to post daily. You can also find me on Facebook at my art page Karen Hilliard Art.

Please leave your Social Media handle on the “Buy me a Coffee” page so I can thank you in my Instagram/Facebook Stories! If you would like to 🙂

Thank you again for all of your support!