Day Trip to the Valley of Fire in my Nissan Leaf November 13, 2013 Mark D Larsen

Though I drive through the Valley of Fire, I shall fear no range anxiety! (Click to enlarge)

I have driven the I-15 freeway between St. George and Las Vegas countless times, and always noticed the exit signs to the Valley of Fire, but had yet to visit that state park in Nevada. When I overnighted in Overton for Plug-In Day 2013, however, I realized that it was so close that I could easily take a day trip from there to the park in my Nissan Leaf on a single charge.

Last week Tamara, ‘Tisa, and I decided to take a three-day vacation to fill in that blank in our travel adventures, and we retraced my previous tire tracks, again charging en route at the 4 Seasons RV Park, and then staying for two nights at the same North Shore Inn. We spent Wednesday visiting the Valley of Fire, and afterwards also drove down to the shoreline of Lake Mead. It was a great day trip! This is the perfect time of year for touring the red rock deserts, with clear blue skies and moderate temperatures. Rather than wax rhapsodic, I’ll simply let the photos linked below tell their thousands of words.

Slide Show of the Valley of Fire Click on a number to see a photo taken at its location on the map:

The day trip was a nice break, and I am very glad that we finally took the time to visit the Valley of Fire. I only wish that there were QuickChargers along I-15 to make the journey easier and quicker. Still, other EV owners will appreciate knowing that the Atlatl Campground in the park has 240V RV outlets, in case they ever need to top up their vehicles while touring the park.

By the way, speaking of charging maps, during our second night at the Inn, I noticed that there was a Chevy Volt also plugged into one of the 120V outlets in the rear parking lot. The next morning I met the owners, who were on their way from Chicago to Los Angeles. They told me that they had seen my earlier post about charging at the Inn, which is why they decided to stop in Overton overnight. I was very pleased to see that my token effort had paid off, not only for the Volt owners, but also for the owners of the Inn. In time, Deb and Chris might find that more of their rooms —and plugs— are frequently occupied by EV aficionados.