Bruneau Dunes State Park is a public recreation and geologic preservation area in the western United States, located in Owyhee County in southwestern Idaho. It is northeast of Bruneau and fifteen miles (25 km) south of Mountain Home.
(Dune at winter, note the frozen lake)
Featuring large sand dunes and small lakes, the state park is the site of North America's tallest single-structured sand dune, which is approximately 470 feet (140 m) in height. Explore the dunes in your hiking boots or rent a sandboard from the Visitor Center, but off-road vehicles are only permitted on the main road. e park encompasses 4,800 acres (7.5 sq mi; 19 km2)You can also fish for bluegill in the lakes at the foot of the dune; unlock the mystery of the desert with a breathtaking hike or horseback ride; plan a group picnic or visit the Bruneau Dunes Observatory and gaze at the night sky through the Observatory’s collection of telescopes.
The park's dunes are unique in the Western Hemisphere: where others in the Americas form at the edge of a natural basin, the Bruneau dunes form near the center. The basin has acted as a natural trap for over 12,000 years. In the Eagle Cove Depression of southern Idaho's Snake River Plain is a concentration of fairly large sand dunes, including the largest single-structured dune in all of North America. The sand is dominantly quartzose (~62%) with minor feldspar (~26%) & Fe-Mg minerals (~12%). The sediment is derived from erosion of Bruneau Formation & Glenns Ferry Formation rocks (Idaho Group, Plio-Pleistocene). The dunes may have started with sands from the Bonneville Flood about 15,000 years ago. With prevailing winds blowing from the southeast 28 percent of the time and from the northwest 32 percent of the time, the dunes stay fairly stable, and unlike most dunes, do not drift far.
(sources: Wikipedia and jsjgeology.net)
In order to log this earthcache, please do the following: Send answers to the following questions AND post a picture of yourself and/or something personal. Questions to answer: 1) The wind is predominantly blowing from what direction? 2) Estimate how far you are from the peak of the dune. 3) Hold some of the sand and describe the size, texture, and color of the sand near you 4) Do not forget your picture.
