Author Archive: Ultimateplaces Photography

Sunrise over Valley of Fire Wash – Las Vegas, Nevada

Sunrise over Valley of Fire Wash - Las Vegas, Nevada

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The sun rises over a colorful dry desert wash in the Valley of Fire, near Las Vegas Nevada. The Valley of Fire State Park covers an area of more than 49,000 acres, and offers of varied landscape, flat open desert, colorful sandstone rock strata, the written remains of ancient native american tribes, and beautiful isolated canyons and ravines that offer recreational opportunities and shelter a variety of plant and wildlife species. The Valley of Fire is part of the Mojave Desert, and lies at an elevation from 1,320–3,009.

The park is also part of the Virgin River drainage, which originates east of Zion National Park in Utah, and forms part of the vast Colorado River Basin that eventually drains into the Sea of Cortez (Gulf of California) in Mexico.

Replica 1880s Train Station – Xenia, Ohio

Replica 1880s Train Station - Xenia, Ohio

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In 1998, the City of Xenia commissioned the building of a replica train station that once stood at the site of what was at one time the freight yard of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O). The city of Xenia has had a long history with railroads, starting in the 1840’s with the Little Miami Railroad (LMRR), followed by the Columbus and Xenia Railroad (C&X) and then the Baltimore & Ohio in the 1890’s. The peak of the railroad in Xenia came in the 1930s. And today, what was the B&O freight yard, is now a hub for 5 regional rail trails, including the Ohio to Erie Trail, which will run from Cincinnati to Cleveland once completed.

Baby Allosaurus Dinosaur Track – San Rafael Swell – Utah

Baby Allosaurus Dinosaur Track - San Rafael Swell - Utah

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The Allosaurus, who’s name means different reptile, is a large carnosaurian theropod dinosaur that lived 155 to 145 million years ago during the Late Jurassic epoch. The allosaurus was a large bipedal predator, the largest known example of which was more than 32 feet long. The majority of allosaursus fossils have come from the Morrison Formation, which covers a large geographic area in several western states, including Utah, New Mexico, Wyoming, Colorado and Montana. The first known example of the dinosaur was described by paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh, in 1877.

The photographed dinosaur track comes from the Grand Rafael Swell in central Utah, near the town of Price.