The St Anthony sand dunes located near St Anthony, Idaho, are heaven on earth for hard core dune enthusiasts during the summer months. This 41,000 acre dune paradise stretches some 30 miles long and range from 1 to 5 miles in width. The dunes rise from the 5000 foot elevation 200-300 feet and offer steep hill climbs, huge bowls, and minimal witches eyes which make for some very fast dune rides!

      Our annual trek from Southern California to the St Anthony dunes is a long drive, close to 1100 miles. It's wise to make sure your tow vehicle is in tip top shape and your tires in near perfect condition. We have heard many horror stories of people blowing a tire in the middle of no where and it takes hours to get back on the road. This cuts into your dune time and is a bad thing!

      We arrived at the Sand Hills resort, one of 3 camping areas right on the dunes. Sand Hills sits on the east end of the dunes and is the nicest camp ground at the St Anthony dunes. The large shade trees, lush grass, full hook-ups, laundry and shower facility makes camping very comfortable! Sand Hills had a recent owner change and we found the new owners very accommodating. However we did not appreciate the large sign in the main office that reads "This is not Glamis", implying that all Glamis goers are lawless rowdy people with no respect for the land or other people using the dunes.

      After the long drive we couldn't wait to head out into the dunes. On your way out of Sand Hills resort requires you have to wade your way through a few miles of small dunes with lava rock scattered in various places. This is not much fun in a sand rail, especially on the way back since all the dunes drop off if you're headed east. However the trail is well marked through this area so you don't end up at a dead end or in a tight spot.

       Once in the 'big stuff' it's game on! The first area where you can really mash the go pedal is a hill called Thunder Mountain. After a few sweeps of the mountain we crested the top and continued into St Anthony's heavenly sand. Dune after dune offered high speed runs through half bowls, swooping up and down steep hills through grassy trails as well as some large bowls.

       A few miles into the dunes you come to Dead Horse bowl and Choke Cherry hill. Dead Horse bowl is a massive bowl with a decent G-out on one side of it and wide open virgin sand around the rest. We spent lots of time at this bowl during our trip. Close to Dead Horse is Choke Cherry hill which is one of the tallest and steepest hills of sand we have ever seen. The first run up is usually intimidating. Everyone in our group had no issues powering up this massive hill but we did see a few people get stuck and have to back down to the bottom. 

      Continuing west we come to the end of the dune system to a bowl called Devils Dune. This is by far the largest and best bowl St Anthony's has to offer. It's a great place to take a dune break as well as burn some fuel! We spent hours at this bowl going round and round. Coming down the back side you can easily hit speeds in the 80's or higher if you feel the need. 

      The town of St Anthony is just a few miles away. They have just about everything you may need during your stay including food, parts, race gas, and even trailer tires. The people in town are extremely friendly and will bend over backwards to try and help you. If St Anthony doesn't have what you need Rexburg is also close. If you have any major problems with your sand rail, Steve Wuerth of Wuerth Motorsports has recently set up a shop very close to the dunes. If he doesn't have your part or can't fix it he will have it shipped overnight and you can be back in business the next day!

 Sand Hills Resort
http://www.sand-dunes.com/

BLM Info
http://www.duneratt.com/BLM%20Regs/BLM_Regs.htm

Steve Wuerth (Wuerth Motorsports) @ 951-442-7792