Valley of Fire Star Trek Filming Location: the Silica Dome Overlook

The Star Trek location in the park is the Silica Dome overlook

The park's 2025 brochure names the Silica Dome Overlook as the Star Trek: Generations (1994) filming location, and the Nevada Film Office's own record lists Valley of Fire as the Nevada location for the film, released 18 November 1994. From the rail you look across the deep red sandstone of Fire Canyon on one side and the pale geology of Silica Dome on the other, which is the ground the production worked with.

The overlook is a drive-up stop with its own signed spur, Fire Canyon Road, branching off the White Domes Road corridor north of the Visitor Center. No trail runs down from it in the park's published material, so plan on the rail and a walk around the parking area rather than a hike.

Phone coverage reaches this overlook, which matters if you want to pull a frame from the film up on screen while you are standing there. The park lists possible signal at only a few spots: the two entrances, Fire Canyon Overlook, lot P3, the White Domes parking lot and the Atlatl Rock platform. Load anything you want to hold up against the view before you drive further north and lose coverage.

Driving to the overlook from the north road

From the junction by the Visitor Center, turn north onto White Domes Road, signed on some stretches as Mouse's Tank Road. The branch covers 5.5 miles to its end at White Domes, posted at 25 mph and about 20 minutes of driving if nothing tempts you to stop; the Fire Canyon Road spur to the film location turns off part way up.

The confirmed pull-outs come in a fixed order going north, so you can count them off as you drive. Parking on the verge is prohibited everywhere in the park, which makes the spur's own parking area the only place to leave the car for this stop.

• Mouse's Tank / Petroglyph Canyon trailhead, 0.75 mile return through the canyon of carvings
• Rainbow Vista, a 1.0-mile return walk out to a viewpoint over multi-coloured sandstone
• Fire Canyon Road, the turn you came for, signed and climbing to the Silica Dome overlook
• Lot P3, five miles north of the Visitor Center, the way in to Fire Wave and Pink Canyon
• The White Domes parking lot where the road ends, with restrooms and a picnic area

Other films the sources tie to the park

Total Recall, released 1 June 1990, is the other title the Nevada Film Office lists with Valley of Fire State Park as its location. Those two films are the only Valley of Fire productions with their own entries in the state film office's Scene in Nevada index, so the longer screen-credit lists circulating elsewhere have no official source behind them.

A third piece of film history sits inside the park, and you can walk to this one. Park documents confirm that the remains of a 1960s movie set stand on the White Domes Loop, a 1.1-mile loop at the far end of White Domes Road that also runs through a slot canyon. Neither the documents nor the film office index names the film, so the set stays unattributed.

The Star Trek thread runs into the Visitor Center too. Its 10-minute orientation film, Valley of Fire: A Journey Through Time and Stone, is narrated by William Shatner, who played Captain Kirk, and it arrived with the building that had its grand opening on 22 November 2025. Screenings sit inside the daily 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. opening, holiday hours can differ, and since the park wants you in there early in the visit, watch it before you drive north.

What you actually see at the overlook

At the overlook you are looking at landscape and nothing else. Official park material names no set, prop, plaque or marker at Silica Dome, so you line the screen up against the rock yourself: the banded pale dome, the red canyon below it, the open sky behind. Bring a still from the film on your phone if you want to match the angle.

Signage scores badly in the park's own survey data. Among the 634 visitors questioned for the University of Nevada, Reno Extension study, 81.4 per cent agreed that signs and markers were clear and plentiful, a figure that tied for the weakest result anywhere in the survey. Watch for the Fire Canyon Road sign instead of assuming the turn will announce itself.

The physical film remains are elsewhere, on the White Domes Loop at the end of the road, and they are reached on foot over a 1.1-mile loop. Do both on the same drive north when the trail is open on your date, since the overlook stop takes minutes and the loop is where the walking is.

Hours, closures and entrances through 2026

Sunrise to sunset is the whole window for a drive out to the overlook, and the park holds to the closing time. Everyone on a day visit has to be off park ground at sunset; staying later is possible only for people attending an event the park has approved, and even then vehicles must be gone by 9 p.m. Outside those events the trails shut from sunset until sunrise, which rules out a late walk to the White Domes set remains. Check that day's sunset time before you leave town, because the overlook sits five-plus miles up a 25 mph road off the park's main route.

Seasonal trail closures decide whether the White Domes Loop and its set remains can be part of the day. Between 15 May and 30 September the park authority's heat-safety rule takes every trail over a mile out of use, and the list is long: White Domes Loop, Fire Wave, the Seven Wonders Loop with its Pastel (Pink) Canyon section, Pinnacles Loop, Prospect Trail, Arrowhead Trail, Charlie's Spring and the Natural Arch Trail, with Arch Rock itself the single exception. The Silica Dome overlook is a roadside viewpoint and does not appear on that list. Above 85 F (29 C) the park advises against hiking at all, summer highs sit over 100 F and can run towards 120 F, and the park authority points visitors at spring and autumn instead.

The weekday you choose changes your route until the end of 2026. The West Entrance at Interstate 15 exit 75 has been running Friday to Sunday only since 3 August 2026, closed Monday to Thursday while crews build a new entrance lane and a second fee booth; on those four days the park sends visitors round to the East Entrance off State Route 169 or State Route 167, which puts extra driving between you and the White Domes Road junction. Nothing is reachable from 1 to 14 December 2026, when the park closes completely for maintenance, with no entry even on foot and all commercial activity including guided tours prohibited; normal operations resume on Tuesday 15 December 2026. Confirm conditions with the park on the day, since construction and closure notices change.

If you would rather be driven out from Las Vegas

A guide is worth it at this stop, because nothing on site connects the view to the film. Two formats on this site suit a fan visit. Start with the Small Group: Valley of Fire Half Day Tour from Las Vegas, from $99 and rated 5.0 ★ (4125 reviews), six hours door to door, with Valley of Fire State Park admission in the price along with a professional driver and guide, pick-up and drop-off at multiple locations, a deli-style sandwich, snacks and bottled water.

Fans who want the stop list built around their own interests do better on the Private Valley of Fire Hiking and Sightseeing Adventure: 6 to 10 hours, from $180, rated 5.0 ★ (212 reviews), in a private vehicle with a local driver-guide, and with all activities, water, snacks and beverages covered. Anyone who would rather drive out and meet the guide there uses the Moapa Travel Plaza / Chevron just off the Valley of Fire exit as the meeting point.

Leave Uber and Lyft out of the plan whichever tour you pick. Nevada State Parks warns that return rides from the park are usually unavailable and that visitors end up stranded, and no bus or shuttle runs out here. Check your date against the 1 to 14 December 2026 closure before you pay, and against the 15 May to 30 September trail closure if the White Domes Loop is part of why you are coming.

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