I used to look at these type of pictures and dream about visiting America’s national & state parks one day. I can’t believe my friend and I finally made it happen and visited some of the most breathtaking parks in Nevada, Utah & Arizona in one week. Now that I’m back home, I’m taking the time to go through over thousands of photos to bring you a little bit of my adventures on the blog.

Our first stop was Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada. It is the oldest and largest state park in Nevada. While booking for this trip, economically it made sense for us to land in Las Vegas and then drive to Utah & Arizona. My plane ticket from Miami to Vegas was around $350 total (much cheaper than landing in Salt Lake City or Seattle). It was my first time visiting Las Vegas. I didn’t take the time to look around Vegas. Two reasons – a. there was a heat advisory warning (I was so not used to “heat” warning. Humidity warning, oh yes! But not heat warning!) b. I feel like Vegas is just a bigger & brighter version of Miami. I was just too excited for the drive to visit the beautiful natural wonders.

The Valley of Fire was on our way to Utah. I was so thankful for the cloudy day. Although it was a bit dark, I was able to walk around and really admire the area. There were some areas that required hiking. We didn’t have much time to check out the entire park. It’s quite large, close to 50,000 acres of preserved land.

The famous elephant rock!

Gorgeous sandstone formations everywhere.

If you are ever in Vegas, make it a day trip to visit the Valley of Fire State Park. You won’t regret it.

Photos by Gaurav Singh