Lots of Sand, No Beach

From Las Vegas we headed into Utah to make an extensive exploration of “color country” – a swath of state and national parks that spans the southern part of Utah from west to east.  We started with a little gem of a state park – Coral Pink Sand Dunes not far from the town of Kanab.We were surprised to see large sand dunes in Death Valley, and were equally surprised to find an area with nearly 6 square miles of dunes here.  Pink colored Navajo sandstone, eroded by wind, is concentrated in this area by a pinch between two mountains, producing natural sand dunes that are between 10,000 and 15,000 years old.Wind is constantly funneling, blowing and moving the sand, erasing traces of man-made tracks within minutes.  Desert animals, lizards and insects make their home near the edges of the dunes where grasses and other plants create some shade, leaving odd tracks and trails as evidence of their movements.We didn’t see the endemic Coral Pink Tiger Beetle, but we did spot a funny little beetle near the top of a tall dune, clinging to the sand despite the strong wind.The dunes made a wonderful playground for children and families, as well as bigger kids like us…  climbing up and down the dunes……exploring the patterns in the extremely fine, soft sand.The other big attraction at the dunes is the chance to run around in various types of motorized vehicles – ATVs and OHVs (off highway vehicles).  It looked like great fun!We checked out the campground for a future visit, and we enjoyed talking with the ranger and seeing the huge collection of clear bottles with sand from all over the world… showing how very fine this park’s coral pink sand really is.  You can also borrow a sand board (like a snow board) from the ranger station, and surf the dunes… but it’s a long, hard slog back up the dune.

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