Some lesser known state parks can flaunt the grandeur of national parks, and Nevada’s first state park, Valley of Fire, defends that claim.  Originally we planned on driving straight from Great Basin National Park, Nevada to Joshua Tree National Park, California but we made the spontaneous detour to Cathedral Gorge State Park.  While searching for a free place to boondock near Las Vegas, I stumbled upon Valley of Fire–there was BLM land just outside of it.  After the brief detour to Cathedral Gorge, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to make another brief detour to Valley of Fire. However, unlike Cathedral Gorge,…