Big Dune, Amargosa Valley, NV, March 10, 2024

After driving up to and hiking around Ubehebe Crater, we needed to drive back down to the Las Vegas Valley. Shortly after Beatty, NV, we passed a large brown sign, "Big Dunes." And we saw, yes, there were some large sand dunes to our west. So we turned off on the road the sign pointed, which turned out to be dirt/gravel/sandy. Putter along at between 10 and 12 miles per hour, for the most part, we slowly bumped our way down the road. There were no other signs, so we just stayed on the "main" road, which google maps says is Big Dunes Road. The direction to the dunes slowly shifted, from southwest to south of us, to a little east of south of us.

We passed an RV or two, of people camping or maybe just picnicking near the dunes. Finally, the road began curving to the south, albeit well west of the dunes. Total drive was probably about 30 minutes, at our very leisurely pace. Took it slow, so I wouldn't inadvertently drive into a sandy patch, where I'd be stuck.

We finally came to a sign, so we drove through the apparent entryway adjacent to the sign. The road was still fine for passenger vehicles. Then the road led to a wide, flat, hardenened area, with some signage and picnic tables. Beyond that, no roads (for passenger cars) were obvious, and the way became very sandy. I elected not to continue driving, parked, and started walking towards the dunes.

This soon proved to be the correct choice, as the sand got deeper and wider. This was dune buggy territory. Nearly the entire area is, in fact, designating as an ATV area, and we could see and hear vehicles speeding over and around the sand dunes.

Dune primrose was pretty common in the sandy soil, as we walked towards the dunes. Once it becomes complete sand, of course, there's nothing growing on the blowing dunes.

In part because it was an ATV area, I did walk carefully when I reached the sand, and did not try walking as far as I might have if I didn't have to worry about getting in the path of a recreational driver. My suspicion is they were probably annoyed by walkers, who were something else they had to worry about. But, practically speaking, they shouldn't be driving quickly over blind drops without a spotter, anyway. That's to keep themselves safe from collisions.

It was pretty windy, so even with the ATV leaving tracks, a lot of those tracks got at least partially obscured in short order. You could see streamers of sand flying over dune lips. But at ground level, it was not too windy to enjoy the scenery.

On the return trip, more so than on the way out, I observed more critter footprints in the sand than I had noticed on the way out. Lots of ripples in that sand, too.

All told, we probably spent about 45 minutes walking. The parking area was maybe 1/3 of a mile from the taller dunes, maybe a bit more. Relatively slow going over sand, of course. But level, except for on the taller dunes, so not particularly strenuous, at least not when the temperature is still spring-like.

Although I suspected the road would continue around the west side of the dunes, eventually leading us back to pavement, I decided to play it safe, and returned to U.S. 95 the way I came. I knew that was doable, and, again, didn't want to risk getting stuck in the sand. The drive back was shorter than the drive out, partially because I knew where I was going, and partially because I drove 12-16 mph back, somewhat faster than when I drove in, since I knew what I was going to see.

Upon checking maps after getting home, I see that I could have taken a paved road (North Valley View Blvd), about 3.5 miles south of Big Dunes Road, off of U.S. 95. Two miles on pavement south would have led me to a parking area. Depending on how far west I could safely drive, that would leave me 1-2 miles east of the dunes. That would mean two to three times the walking distance of the route we took, but a lot less slow driving on a dirt road. If your vehicle can handle deep sand, it's a drive up to and upon the dunes. If you think your vehicle can handle deep sand but are wrong, it's a really expensive tow.

This is the last of three short hikes I took over the weekend, which, collectively, total all of about three miles, so would qualify under my traditional definition of three miles off pavement to qualify for a hike.