This place shocked me (Gold Butte, Nevada)

Gold Butte National Monument is a rugged desert wilderness encompassing 300,000 acres managed by the Bureau of Land Management. Though it lies only ten miles away from Valley of Fire (as the crow flies), reaching it by car requires a much longer drive, roughly fifty miles north, east, and south around the Muddy and Virgin Rivers.

I spent five nights camping off-grid in Gold Butte, and it quickly became the highlight of my trip. The landscape is wild and rugged, filled with remarkable Joshua trees and a notable sense of solitude. Compared to Valley of Fire nearby, it sees far fewer visitors, likely because many don't know it exists, or are deterred by its rougher, less inviting roads.

Speaking of Joshua trees, I later learned this area was only recently designated a National Monument in 2016, in part to protect its trees from illegal burning and ancient petroglyphs from being vandalized (some even have bullet holes from target practice, apparently). Good thing for the environment, but sad that such measures were even necessary.

Further south in Gold Butte is an area colloquially named "Little Finland", a place I've had bookmarked in Google Maps for years. The name has nothing to do with the country of Finland. Instead, it's a local pun describing the area's sharp, jagged red sandstone sculpted over time by wind and water erosion.

I’ve explored countless rock formations across the American west, but nothing I've seen resembles Little Finland. The sandstone here is thin and brittle, like something left too long in an oven. I tried my best to be careful and aware while hiking around carrying camera gear, for it was far too easy to bump into the delicate rocks and damage them.

Eventually, I found my way into this area at twilight (image below). The sky was clear, and the sun was blasting the red rocks around me. That rich light bounced back into the shadows, resulting in a surreal scene.

The dramatic red sculptures of Little Finland were, of course, fantastic and very satisfying to photograph, but I was also captivated by unique patterns in the rocks underneath my feet (image below). Intricate channels resembling melted wax, slowly formed by water and erosion.

Below is a video from Gold Butte, if you'd like to check it out. Next time, I'll share with you my experience at Cathedral Gorge State Park, another fascinating landscape in Nevada.