Seeing the petroglyphs only takes a bit of stair climbing from the parking lot and then pick a popular short hike (they are all good) and hike a mile there and back.

That's pretty much the answer. Sunrise and sunset are the best times for photography in my opinion. I went there both times and spent hours. There is so much to see. Be at the gate when it opens and be ready to go once it gets almost dark. The park makes a sweep through the park to rouse any stragglers.

Now that I have been there, I’ll answer this for anyone who, like us, finds themselves with a Jeep-load of camping gear and no available campsites in Valley of Fire State Park (VOF). If you can’t find a spot, the closest and free option is Poverty Flats, just off Highway 169 in Moapa Valley. The camping here is not ideal, there is no available water and there are quite a few trailers and RV’s running generators. However, there is a TON of space and it is very flat as the name suggests. Most importantly, you’re just outside the southern entrance to the Park. If you layover here, you can get to the camping areas within the park, and be there inside of 15 minutes. From what we observed, getting there at about 9 am you’ll see sites start to open up. If you stay vigilant, you’ll end up getting a site. Echo Bay is another option, but it isn’t ideal either. The lake has receded so much that you’re quite far from the water and it’s not picturesque. It is dry camping just like Poverty Flats, but it is further from VOF.

we choose to enter from the south since it's closer to the visitor center & we drove from Vegas and it seemed to be closer & also able to pick the trails that we managed to hike in a shorter period of time.

Oh my God yes! I travel with my mother who is 74 now and cant hike much at all anymore, and so we see all parks from the point of how much can we see from the "Step out of your car" viewpoints. This park is AMAZING for what can be seen without hiking. The unique thing about Valley of Fire is the rock formations and Id guess around 80% or more can be seen from the overlooks along the road. Valley of Fire Is SO totally worth the time to visit! Also if you have time, check out Red Rock Canyon as well. Its under an hour west of Vegas and also has an amazing scenic drive that does not require hiking to enjoy the views. Check out my reviews for more info. Simple answer is YES. You should go see it, its worth it. Hope that helps.

None of the trails are very long. Some of the nicest hikes are two miles round trip or less. Just have plenty of water, relax and enjoy!

I have been to red rock 3 times and valley of fire once and going back I would prefer spending more time at valley of fire. I think if you aren’t planning on hiking much you could do both. If you’re big hikers I wouldn’t do them both in a day. The nice thing is that they’re both super drivable, you don’t have to stop at everything and you can still see some amazing sights without hiking too far in.

They had very limited service when we were there. There is only certain parts of the park that has wifi. You would want to call the visitors center and ask the coverage areas.

I dont think so. Not much precipitation in the area, particularly if you are coming from Vegas

Coming from Mesa it is not on your way to Vegas. If you were going up towards Zion as a part of your trip it would work in pretty well. If you were planning on going to Zion it is pretty much on the way to Vegas from there