Big Dune Trail

Idaho has a fantastic assortment of climates. Living in Boise, you have access to mountains, rivers, forests, canyons and yes, even deserts. About an hour and half southeast of Boise lies Bruneau Dunes State Park, home to the tallest single-structured sand dune in North America.

The 6 mile loop around the park leads you through flat land desert up to the peak of the dunes for a scenic sweep of a lake, sand and coyotes.  After climbing the 470′ sand monster, you will follow the ridge line down and circle the sand dune lake eventually catching the trail back to the visitors center.

It is very hard to get lost on this trail but it is very easy to lose the trail. Let me explain, the wind constantly shifts the sand and erases former footsteps causing parts of the trail to vanish. But being that most of the trail is flat and void of vegetation, you can almost always see the visitors center. While there are a series of white markers along the trail to guide you, most have fallen from the strong winds and are missing, leaving you with long stretches of unguided venturing. I brought along a GPS to keep us on the right track and I would recommend bringing a handheld GPS to save your feet from enduring wandering mileage.

Walking through sand is a lot tougher than your typical dirt trails. It gives way under your weight, much like snow, so you sink down and lose momentum on every step.

I figured going in the winter time while much of the ground was frozen would counter-act this but I was only partially right on this one. Near the trailhead there was quite a bit of mud which turned to frozen sand which transitioned into softer sand.  But walking over frozen sand isn’t the only advantage of tackling the dunes in the winter time. You also avoid the crowds and the blazing hot temperatures the summertime brings.

This is a great winter hike that I would recommend to anyone looking to avoid the crowds and experience a unique hike in the deserts of Idaho.

So what did I learn?

• Coyotes don’t only look for food at night
• Dunes are a lot steeper than they look
• A GPS is well worth the money

Chad Albright

Chad can be summed up by his idea of a perfect day: Waking up early to watch the sunrise over the mountains, warm cup of coffee in hand then grabbing his camera and fly rod, hitting the trail to explore some uncharted territory followed by cold beers and campfire steaks. Chad is often joined on his adventures by his wife, Tori, and their dog, Kona.