It's About the (RV) Journey....: Coral Pink Sand Dunes.......

Not far from our campground is Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park. For more information, click here. We left early one morning to check it out. We drove through miles of sage brush meadows to get there -so much empty land here- passing a few cows along the way. The park is very popular for 4-wheeling with ATV's.

12 miles to Coral Pink Sand Dunes State paark

This park was the scene for several westerns...including "One Little Indian" and "MacKenna's Gold". I haven't seen any of these flicks, but I bet you have Dad! You always had a western on the tv :)

There is a visitor center and a nature trail around one section of the park, which is fenced in to keep the ATV's out. Visitors can walk anywhere, but just need to be aware of ATV's. When we were there, no ATV's were around. At least, we didn't see or hear any.

heading to the "nature trail"

pretty

So, sand dunes in the middle of mountains? What? According to the park information, wind funnels through a notch between the mountains carrying grains of sand from eroding Navajo sandstone, which is known as the Venturi Effect. After the wind passes through the notch, the wind velocity dies down and the sand granules are deposited. We are always learning something new....every day!

giant sand dunes in the distance

there were several

they don't look like much from the picture

4-wheelers have a great time here

Besides being a beautiful color, the sand is so soft! Very fine granules.....almost like a powder. We were having fun following tiny footprints in the sand. At one of the "stations" on the nature trail, we found out who made the footsteps.

start of the "nature trail"

what made that trail?

the sand is so fine...almost like a powder

more footprints

heading on the sandy trail (like walking on a stairmaster)

Once again, new to us flowers!

We were about the only ones walking along the nature trail. Its really not that long, but walking through the sand was like walking on a step-master. Hahahah. In the hot sun. Hence, the dorky big hat I've been wearing....hhahahaha. I have to say, it was really fun walking down some of the dunes!!

along the way were interpretive signs

more new to us foliage

the big dunes

pretty

found out a small rodent made these tracks-they are active at night and burrow in the sand during the day

fun trail!

are you coming Susie?

more tracks

hmmm.....

Tom ventured out to the big sand dunes popular with the ATV's. The pictures with Tom out there should show some perspective as to just how high the sand dunes are.

looks like nothing, right?

the color is a gorgeous coral

Tom is heading out

he WAS going to climb it, but changed his mind

he looks so little!

hello

i knew he couldn't just leave it alone! hahhaha

he climbed up the smaller one

which was still pretty big

pretty

more tracks-we tried to follow some of them but they disappear

still on the trail

cool

ripples right in front of the interpretive sign....i always though rippling was random, like at the beach

almost finished the trail

action shot

fun!!

end of the trail now

Visitor Center in the distance (as well as beautiful scenery)

the last interpretive sign

driving back out of the park...more dunes

ATV's love this

When we were done exploring, we continued on to the big city of Kanab, which is 30 miles or so from our campground.We had some errands that required a town! I especially needed a haircut, and had to wait a couple of hours for that, so we explored the town a bit and had lunch in a really nice park. For once the "points of interest" on the navigation system in the car really helped us. We put in "parks" and found the nicest park. It looked great for kids, but had a nice section if you just wanted to eat lunch away from that scene. This park was so pleasant, with a nice cool breeze in the shade, and the beautiful sandstone clliffs surrounding us. Nice!

always gotta share the road!

driving to Kanab

so pretty

lunch in the park

its really nice here....the screaming kids are way off in the distance-hahhahah

great spot

a little water park....fountains that shoot up....I almost went there myself!

The Kane County visitor center is in Kanab as well, and we stopped in to get some more information on the places we will be going. The staff is so helpful in these visitor centers. Most of them are very enthusiastic about the area, and can guide you to whatever it is that appeals to you.

Visitor Center-Kanab

Tom and John

We didn't have time to stop in this free Hollywood museum. Apparently, Kanab is known as the Utah's Little Hollywood since so many tv series and films were made here. Some of the more popular tv series (from back in the day!) include Gunsmoke, Have Gun Will Travel, Lassie, F-Troop....to name a few. Movies shot here include Planet of the Apes, Broken Arrow, Maverick, and the Flinstones.