St.Anthony Sand Dunes EarthCache
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Thirty-five miles long and five miles wide, the dunes can be viewed from the county road about 8 miles from the town of St Anthony.
The largest set of sand dunes in Idaho covers 175 square miles . When sand grains are lifted by the wind, they bounce along the surface like a basketball. Eventually, they are stopped by a bush or a rock. The sand grains will stack up on each other forming a dune. This is how the St. Anthony Sand Dunes were formed.
The St. Anthony Sand Dunes consists of 11,000 acres of clear, shifting, white quartz sand. Although this is a wilderness study area, the dunes support high off-road vehicle traffic. Dunes up to 400 feet high attract riders from throughout the west. ORV users are strongly encouraged to avoid damage to vegetation and impacts to wildlife so that use of this unique area may continue. Others prefer to explore the dunes on horse and on foot. In the winter, it is a popular sledding and tubing area. Approximately 2,000 elk, 50 moose, and 1,400 mule deer winter in the vicinity.
St. Anthony Sand Dunes are called barchan dunes because they form sharp crescents that resemble ram’s horns. At St. Anthony, the tips of the horn-shaped dunes face northeast which indicate the winter winds from the southwest seem to move the sand. Southwest winds have also created the elongated shape of both Menan Butte volcanoes. Off-road recreational vehicle use is encouraged on open sand only at St. Anthony Sand Dunes.
Wind moves these mountains of granulated quartz eight feet a year, erasing the recurring ruts made by armies of off-road vehicles that climb the often 400-foot (122-meter) high dunes. managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), this area is also a Wilderness Study Area supporting large herds of elk, mule deer, and moose in the winter months.
To claim a find please take a picture of yourself or your GPS with the dunes in the background and answer these questions.
1. approximate how high is the dune directly in front of you.
2. Name 1 type of vehicle allowed on sand dunes.
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