Rainbow Vista Trail is a short, easy hike in Valley of Fire State Park that leads to an overlook of Fire Canyon. It certainly isn’t our favorite hike in this park, in fact, it is low on our list. But there is one reason to do this hike: chuckwallas!
We love animal sightings, and we’d never seen a chuckwalla before. On this hike, we saw over a dozen, mostly perched in bushes along the side of the trail. Of course, we can’t guarantee a sighting, but when we walked Rainbow Vista Trail on our Spring Break, we enjoyed spotting all of these massive lizards!
Hike Info
- Distance: 1.2 miles RT
- Elevation Gain: 95 feet
- Rating: Easy
- Fee: Valley of Fire State Park Fee ($10.00 for NV residents and $15.00 for Non-NV Vehicles)
Rainbow Vista Trail starts at a large parking lot on the right (east) hand side of the road in Valley of Fire State Park. The trail travels steadily, though not steeply downhill. It is a bit sandy, which slows you down a bit, but it is well-marked and easy to follow. The trail is short at just .6 miles down (1.2 miles RT), and eventually comes to a nice overlook of Fire Canyon. At sunset the rocks are really colorful, but that is true anywhere in this park.
Like most of the trails in Valley of Fire, Rainbow Vista Trail has no shade, and is very sandy. Our youngest plopped down and didn’t make it all the way to the end because he was too hot and wasn’t interested in anymore rocks (Those are his words, not mine).
We love every hike, but if you only have a short time in Valley of Fire, choose the Fire Wave or White Domes or Pink Canyon hike. Those trails are our favorites. That is, unless you want to see chuckwallas. Then, you should definitely give Rainbow Vista Trail in Valley of Fire a try! Check out our post on Valley of Fire for a fun list of hikes.
