Dunes, Dunes, Dunes!
The views are spectacular and the hiking trails are out of this world, but the real bread-and-butter of this park is the Dunes.
A little education:
- The sand you see at the Dunes is the tip of the iceberg… literally. Expert researchers have investigated and realized that there is way more sand underneath.
- If you take a magnet, plunge it into the sand, it will come out full of magnetite, an eroded mineral from the nearby mountains. I tried this. It was neat.
- The sand particles at the Dunes goes through a cycle: strong southwesterly winds blow them, and then running water from nearby creeks carries them back.
A little fun:
I rented a sandboard and spent a whole morning playing around in the sand. I almost got the hang of it by the end.
2 COMMENTS
Hey Stephanie – great running into you at the dunes, looks like you had a great time! We found an awesome little spot to hike and play by the water without the crowds that your readers might be interested in.
From the campgrounds, we took the minimal maintenance road to the point of no return (where it requires high clearance to continue), parked at the trailhead and headed west 1/2 mile to an awesome spot where you can run the sand hill or lounge by the river.
Here’s two teaser pics:
http://bit.ly/2bgDNcy
http://bit.ly/2bgEIdd
Enjoy!
JC
Hey Stephanie – great running into you at the dunes, looks like you had a great time! We found an awesome little spot to hike and play by the water without the crowds that your readers might be interested in.
From the campgrounds, we took the minimal maintenance road to the point of no return (where it requires high clearance to continue), parked at the trailhead and headed west 1/2 mile to an awesome spot where you can run the sand hill or lounge by the river.
Here’s two teaser pics:
http://bit.ly/2bgDNcy
http://bit.ly/2bgEIdd
Enjoy!
JC