funguswanderlust
Dec 2018
We took the day tour to the Valley of Fire from Las Vegas.
Very relaxing drive and the duration was just nice for us (6 hours). It was good that the tour was not super early, we met the guide at about 815am at our hotel. Pickup was prompt and they were clear as to where to pick us up from. It was also great that it was a small group, there was only 4 of us in total, so it was quite personalised in a way. I guess most of the tours to Valley of Fire should be small given that most people would opt for grand canyon or hoover dam (both which we had gone before). The vehicle was a jeep - very stable and comfortable and clean seats. I have quite serious motion sickness, while i did take a pill prior to the trip, would say the entire ride was fairly smooth, and not very windy or bumpy; the photostops along the way also helped as you could get out to get some fresh air.
We started the journey with the hotel pick ups then had a toilet break where we could also get some light groceries and coffee/tea enroute to the valley of fire. Once we reached the valley of fire, the tour was mostly walking around to see the rocks and photo stops. There was ample time for us to walk around to explore - the terrain was also not too hard to walk - mostly sand or just a few small rocks we had to maneuver if we wanted to get nicer photos or better view. The coming down n up of the jeep might be tiring and pose some difficulty for some (after a while you might just opt to stay in the jeep :p). We had lunch at a very scenic spot at the white domes - I must say the lunch was great! Typically you don't except much from cold sandwiches but this must have been one of the better ones I've eaten on day trips as such. In the course of booking the tour, there will be a part where you could indicate which sandwich / salad you want for lunch. The salad was quite substantial and think it comes with a cookie while the sandwich came with a potatochips. Water was provided during the trip and its almost unlimited amount, however much you need :D
Our guide Jennifer was very knowledgeable, shared with us a lot about the area, rock formations etc. She was also very attentive to our needs; she kept checking in on me to make sure I was fine throughout the journey given my motion sickness problem. She made sure that we were very well taken care of during the trip and we were grateful for that!
We went during winter so while we could kind of feel the heat from the sun, it could be quite chilly at certain parts so a jacket is definitely advisable.
We took quite a while to decide whether to take Pink Jeep or other tours, given that Pink Jeep was the pricier than many of the rest, but I'm glad that I chose Pink Jeep. The vehicle, service, the lunch, makes it all worth it. As for the valley of fire tour, I think its a good duration tour if you want something relaxing and not too long (we were back in vegas by 2ish and had pretty much still another half of the day to do our own exploration). But it terms of wow factor, it probably doesn't offer that much of a wow compared to Grand Canyon and possibly hoover dam. But if you are very into rock formations, geography etc. you will probably like it.