October 1998 Campfire Tales

by Larry Heck of

PASS PATROL

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Coral Pink Sand Dunes
near Kanab, Utah

Newspaper headlines across Utah declared the BLM had closed Coral Pink Sand Dunes to motorized vehicles. TV stations echoed those reports. The BLM Web site simply stated that 14,000 acres of Wilderness Study lands were locked away without the formality of passing a wilderness bill. It sounded like the general public had just suffered another painful blow from that special interest group (SIG for short) with more lawyers than members who hide behind the term, “environmentalist.” But what really happened? It was time to put on my Sherlock Holmes hat, throw the sleeping bag in the back of the Rodeo and dive into low range.

I rolled into Kanab, Utah about noon on a day in the first week of October. Kanab greeted me with a clear blue sky, a gentle breeze, and temperatures well below 90 degrees. The folks at the BLM ranger station greeted me with lots of maps, copies of the closure notice, and answers to every question.

“So, which roads are closed,” I asked pointing to the map. The answer was easy enough. “None of the roads are closed.”

Okay, I thought. I’ve just spent two days driving across the desert with the windows down. Obviously, my ears were full of sand. “I’ll be back in a few minutes,” I said and went back to the Rodeo. I drove to the Hitch-n-Post RV Park and tossed the lady three bucks for a shower. After spending several minutes in the shower getting all the sand out of my ears, I went back to the Ranger Station.

“Let’s try this again,” I said while pointing to the map. “Which roads on this map are closed?”

The answer was. “You do smell better, but the roads are still open.”

“I feel better too ... but what about that 800 acreas of sand dunes and 14,000 acres of Wilderness Study Area that was closed?”

“Well, there aren’t any roads included in the closure within the WSA. The roads that exist were not included in the closure.”

“No roads included in the closure,” I repeated.

“Right. The acreage in the sand dunes that was closed was in outlying areas surrounding the dunes where there were no roads but some people were driving across them to get to the dunes.”

“Let’s see if I got this right,” I said while still trying to get the water out of my left ear. “The area that was closed to motorized vehicles ... has no roads.”

That’s their story and they’re stick’n to it! I went back to the Rodeo and headed for the dunes. I decided to go the Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park first and see what the story was there. I pulled up to the entrance booth and was greeted by a fella with a brochure explaining the origin of the dunes and the rules and regulations for driving on them.

“That’ll be $4,” he said with a smile. $12 if you want to camp here. We have hot showers.”

“No thanks,” I said while skimming through the brochure. “I already tried washing the sand out of my ears and now I’ve got water in the right ear that won’t come out.”

“I hate it when that happens,” he giggled. “What you doing out this way, anyhow?”

“I’m looking for the 14,000 acreas of WSA and 800 acres of dunes that was closed to motorized travel.”

“Cain’t help you. We didn’t close anything in the state park.”

I turned around and headed back to the BLM Dry Lake access on the map. I noticed along the way that a few scars existed where people had cut across roadless grassy areas to get to the dunes. All those scars had “closed” signs on them. When I reached the dry lake, I found numerous paths cut across the grasses that were closed. However, the established access road from the dry lake to the dunes was open and well marked as, “the road” to be used. Getting to the dunes by any other path is obviously considered driving off the road.

The Coral Pink Sand Dunes are best described as huge mountains of sand. They are surrounded on three sides by roads and on the south side by the Moquith Mountains and the Moccasin Mountains. It is because of a notch between the Moquith Mountains and Moccasin Mountains that the sand dunes have formed and continue to grow with the passing of time. Winds rushing in from the south are funneled through that notch causing them to increase in velocity. Those winds become strong enough to pick up grains of sand from the eroding Navajo sandstone, carry them through the notch, and drop them as the wind loses its velocity in the open country where the dunes now exist.

The name Coral Pink comes from the color of the sand. The dunes are enormous stretching about seven miles in length and ranging from one to three miles in width. On the map, it appears that more than 75% of the main dunes area is within the state park. Access to the dunes within the state park is limited to specific access roads, however, once on top the dunes the only restriction is to stay off the vegetation. Compare the dunes to a second level parking garage. As with such a garage, access to the second level is limited to specific ramps, however, once on top, it’s wide open.

As already mentioned, Coral Pink Sand Dunes is surrounded on three sides by roads. Those roads are very close to the base of the mountains of sand. In the past, drivers were pulling off the roads at any selected point and making a charge at the mountains anywhere they chose instead of using the designated access roads. That practice gave the SIG the ammunition they needed to get a judge to demand the BLM put restrictions in place. For the BLM portion of the sand dunes, there are now three designated access roads onto the dunes and all other accesses have been closed to motorized travel. Using the designated accesses, anyone with the proper equipment can get onto the mountains of sand and drive anywhere on them as long as they stay off existing vegetation. Once on top the mountains, the boundary between the state park and the BLM area is nothing more than an imaginary line in the sand and there are no restrictions for going from one to the other.

There is one other point that needs to be made concerning the Sand Dunes for those who are not familiar with mountains of sand. Special sand vehicles are required. It is not somewhere I’m going to go in my Rodeo. The most commonly used vehicle is the four wheel drive ATV however this is prime country for a dune buggy. Motorcycles with special paddle wheels are seen there but it takes an experienced operator to keep one moving.

There are lots of rules and regulations for driving on the dunes. If you have never been on sand dunes, you may not understand the need for some of them but they are in place for your safety. First of all, a whip flag is required. That may sound a little strange but actually, it is very necessary. The surface of sand dunes is like waves in an ocean. If you are in a low spot on one side of a wave and someone else is in one on the other side, neither will be able to see the other. Since part of the fun of driving on sand dunes is driving fast, if that other fellow can’t see you, he just may come sailing over the top of the wave and land right on top of you. The whip flags help drivers see each other.

A few other rules are as follows:

ATVs must be registered if you are a Utah resident. If you are visiting from another state for less than 14 days, you do not need to register the vehicle. No one under eight years old may operate an ATV. Utah residents under the age of sixteen must possess an OHV education certificate. Utah residents sixteen and over must possess a driver’s license. A complete list of the rules and regulations can be obtained from the BLM office in Kanab. That phone number is 801-644-2672.

For guys like me who prefer comfort, luxury, and power, there is plenty of sand in the Moquith Mountain WSA to explore. That WSA is on the east side of the dunes. The sand in the WSA comes from the dunes but never accumulates sufficiently to form dunes. It’s more like driving on a beach.

If you go there, be prepared. My Rodeo had to be winched up one hill to get around the loop. I did not air my tires down, but if I had done so, I might not have had to use the winch. If you don’t have a winch, you may have to air all the way down to eight pounds of pressure to keep moving. Be sure you take an air compressor with you. It would not be good to drive all the way to Kanab with four flat tires. If would also be best to travel with another vehicle just in case airing down does not get you out.

There are five existing roads in the WSA. All five have been claimed by the county under RS2477 right of way and were graded at one time. Of course the SIG is suing them for doing that. Not that running a grader over sand does much good, but they did it anyway. The access road into the WSA is called, “Sand Springs Route”. I made it all the way to Sand Springs while still in two wheel drive.

The designated access road onto the dunes from Sand Springs is the most challenging of the three BLM access roads onto the mountains of sand. It’s a near-vertical climb that will get the attention of any ATV operator. The Sand Springs area is used as a parking area for people using that access.

Bypassing the access road to the dunes puts you across the boundary of the WSA. Beyond this point, four wheel drive is no longer optional. The sand is deeper and the hills are steeper.

The first intersection is for a road called, “Indian Canyon Petroglyph Route”. The road is barely one car wide. It winds back a forth with one blind curve after another. Although the natural tendency is to drive fast, you can not see around the turns to see if anything is coming from the other way. After less than two miles, it ends at the hiking trailhead for the petroglyphs.

The hike took me an hour for the round trip and it was well worth the effort. Keep in mind that coming back up the canyon will be much more difficult than going down. Take a canteen of water with you.

The next intersection ends the Sand Springs Route and begins a road called “Moquith Mountain Loop”. From this point, the road gets progressively more abusive with every mile. Brush will scrape your vehicle on both sides so if you are fussy about your paint, don’t go. After a short distance, the road crosses into the state park. The first intersection comes while in the park. A right turn at that intersection takes you about a mile along the west edge of Moquith Mountains. From the end of that road, all the sand dunes below are in full view from end to end and side to side. You can even see the entrance to the state park and the paved road along the west edge of the dunes.

Getting to that vista requires some careful rock crawling. One step with a sharp right turn at the bottom is especially noticeable.

Continuing on the main loop from that intersection takes you into some serious rock crawling and some very deep sand. It was on that section at a steep hill climb that my Warn 8,000 winch was all that kept me from having to turn around. My poor little Rodeo was buried to its frame in loose blowing sand.

Beyond that hill, the road is less traveled. Obviously most other traffic has gone back. Although the road is still plenty wide for a Rodeo, the brush on both sides was thicker and more abusive.

A right at the next intersection takes you along the forth of the five roads in the park called “Lamb Point Route.” From a scenic prospective as well as fourwheeling challenge, this road is the best the WSA has to offer. It crosses into Arizona for a while, then turns back into Utah while running along the very peaks of the Moquith Mountains. There are numerous obstacles to overcome so don’t get too distracted by the scenery. The only downside is the brush is so thick on both sides of the road, the scraping and scratching seems never ending. I did not make it all the way to the end of this road. At the point where it begins following the top of a narrow ridge, the obstacles just became a little too severe for a stock Rodeo. It did not have the height to clear some of the steps. Cell service is good from that point though. I called home just to let everyone know how much fun I was having. Apparently, the site at the end of the road was once used for antennaes of some kind.

From the intersection for the Lamb Point Route, the Moquith Loop becomes very challenging. In some places, where the road crosses rocky areas, it is difficult to determine where the road is. Those areas also include steep steps that will no doubt catch your skid plate more than once.

The loop connects with a fence line and begins following it on the west side, then passes through a gate and follows it on the east side. A right turn at the next intersection takes you on the fifth and final road within the WSA called “Hell Dive Route”. There was nothing especially challenging about this route to earn its name unless you count the heavy brush on both sides. This route was the most abusive of all the roads and had the least to offer in terms of scenery. It ended overlooking Hell Dive Canyon which is very pretty but after being spoiled with the scenery on Lamb Point Route, it just wasn’t impressive.

What was impressive though is the final stretch of the loop. It quickly became serious fourwheeling. That challenge came at the point where the road descended into Water Canyon. In some places, the descent was near vertical and the skid plates on the Rodeo began to earn their keep. There were three major steps on the way to the bottom of the canyon.

By time I got to the bottom, daylight had turned into night so I camped in the wash of the canyon. Camping for me on such trips is really nothing more than parking for a few hours since I sleep in the vehicle. That fit the “leave no trace” rules of the WSA just fine. It is not allowed to pull off the roadway but the wash provided a parking area where there was plenty of passing room. I really didn’t need it though. I was in the area for three days and never saw another person.

Getting out of the wash the next day proved to be easier than getting in. The rest of the trip was simply a matter of completing the loop.

There is a BLM established campground with pit toilets and firepits but it would fill up quickly on a holiday. A $5 fee is charged. There are several RV parks in Kanab including the Hitch’n Post where showers are available for $3. The most convenient campground to the area is at the Pink Coral Sand Dunes State Park for those of you who like hot showers handy. The phone number for the state park is 801-648-2800. For camping reservations call 800-322-3770.

It appears all that fuss about land closure was rather wasted. For all practical purposes, the only thing that has changed is the routes used to get on top the main sand dunes. In fact, if folks had used the designated access routes to begin with, this Pink Coral Sand Dunes Closure would not have been necessary. As for our friends with all the lawyers, they aren’t happy with this closure and based on all the information they seem to be gathering, they plan to make another run at the courts real soon. You might want to put this one on your priority list of places to go.

As for me, the Rodeo is back in high range and after three days in the sand, I’m headed for the showers.

NEW! Outback Publications has a 40 page guide booklet with maps, directions, and GPS positions to Pink Coral Sand Dunes and Moquith Mountains WSA for $9.95 plus $2 shipping. Sales tax applies to Colorado residents. Mastercard, Visa, and Discover are accepted. Not included in sale below. Call 303-341-5705 or order on-line at the 4X4NOW Bookstore Pink Coral Sand Dunes and Moquith Mountains WSA web page.

Boldly going where we've never gone before!

Pass Patrol for 1999 Pass Patrol celebrates its 14th. Year with a back-to-the-basics approach. The club was originally formed with one mission:

“To explore forgotten roads, to seek out uncivilized country, to boldly go where we have never gone before!”

The result of that mission is a continuation of new books and videos. With that mission in mind, it can be assumed that any trail we visit this year is scheduled to be in a new book, video or magazine stories. For example, most all of Canyonlands and Moab vicinity is on the 1999 schedule. Guess what book is coming. There is one trip per month scheduled from March through October. Mother Nature will not always cooperate and some trips will end quickly. A few will never leave town. Others will be added. Based on last year, we expect group size to range from two vehicles to twelve vehicles.

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