Sand Dunes, Death Valley National Park :: Photo Of The Day and Natural History Commentary

Death Valley National Park’s most accessible sand dunes are just a few miles down the road from Stovepipe Wells, in the center of Death Valley. 14 acres of sand dunes, rising several hundred feet high in places, lie about a quarter mile from the road. While there is no official trail from the roadside parking area to the dunes, you cannot miss them. Just set out on foot from your car in the direction of the dunes that look most interesting and walk for a while. Gradually the brush and vegetation gives way to pure sand and you are there. It is easy to find your own space out here, away from others, among the valleys that lie between the dunes. Sunrise and sunset are the times to walk among the dunes, it gets too hot during midday. Night finds noctural animals roaming the dunes, such as the kangaroo rat and sidewinder. The morning visitor will see cool animal tracks on the dunes, tracks that gradually disappear as the sands shift in the days breezes. If I took my kids to these dunes I would bring a boogie board or big cardboard boxes to let them slides down the steep sides of the biggest dunes.

Sand Dunes, California. Near Stovepipe Wells lies a region of sand dunes, some of them hundreds of feet tall. Stovepipe Wells, Death Valley National Park, California, USA. Image: 15577	Sand Dunes, California. Near Stovepipe Wells lies a region of sand dunes, some of them hundreds of feet tall. Stovepipe Wells, Death Valley National Park, California, USA. Image: 15576	Ripples in sand dunes at sunset, California. Winds reshape the dunes each day. Early morning walks among the dunes can yield a look at sidewinder and kangaroo rats tracks the nocturnal desert animals leave behind. Stovepipe Wells, Death Valley National Park, California, USA. Image: 15607

Caveats: Don’t win any Darwin Awards in the dunes. Know how to get back to your car, carry water and protection from the sun, and use a flashlight in the dark to scope out sidewinders. Death Valley does have considerably larger sand dunes than those near Stovepipe Wells, such as the Eureka dunes, but they are accessible only via a remote, gnarly dirt road requires hours of gnarly driving and a gnarly 4wd vehicle.