LAS VEGAS: Valley of Fire, Seven Magic Mountains, Vegas Sign TOUR

The Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign is a Las Vegas landmark funded in May 1959 and erected soon after by Western Neon. The sign was designed by Betty Willis at the request of Ted Rogich, a local salesman, who sold it to Clark County, Nevada.

Seven Magic Mountains is an art installation in Ivanpah Valley, along the far southern end of Las Vegas Boulevard. It was created by the Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone, but commissioned and financed by the Art Production Fund and the Nevada Museum of Art. It is one of the largest land-based installations in the United States completed in the last forty years. It receives 325,000 visitors annually.

The Beehives are sandstone formations that not only demonstrate the unique design that can be created by nature, but are also an excellent representation of geologic cross bedding. Those are the grooved lines going in different directions. The layers or beds represent different layers of silt that are deposited at different times. The beds indicate the angle of the wind or water was moving at the time the material was deposited. Cross bedding is very common in sand dunes, beach deposits and river sediments. A short path winds through rocky dunes with hills of the Muddy Mountains visible in the distance.

An atlatl (at’-lat-l) is a device used for launching a spear; usually a short cord wound around the spear so that, when thrown into the air, the weapon will rotate. The ancient Indians used these weapons and they are depicted in the petroglyphs (rock carvings) located at Atlatl Rock. This area has outstanding petroglyphs that should not be missed.

Information, books, souvenirs, and exhibits on Valley of Fire and the surrounding area. The exhibits include the geology, ecology, prehistory, and history of Valley of Fire.

Seven Sisters at Valley of Fire State Park is a group of seven tall, red, eroded boulders surrounded by the sandy desert. Once part of the nearby red formations, these rock towers are all that remain after the relentless forces or erosion stripped away the surrounding sandstone deposits. Numerous “blow holes” forecast the eventual destruction of the towers that will take place many hundreds of years in the future.

This rock is a fine example of an arch in the shape of an elephant. The rock is right next to the road, but as parking is limited on Valley of Fire Road, it is best to park in the nearby parking lot and take the trail to reach the formation.