Utah’s pink sand dunes move 50 feet a year, and you can sled down them

It’s the Colorado Plateau’s only dune field

Southern Utah keeps pulling surprises, and this one covers 3,730 acres.

Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park sits at 6,000 feet near the town of Kanab, with rolling hills of pink sand boxed in by red sandstone cliffs and juniper forest.

No other major dune field exists on the entire Colorado Plateau. The sand shifts constantly, with dunes creeping up to 50 feet every year.

And the reason the sand looks like that goes back millions of years.

Wind and ancient rock created the pink color

The sand started as Navajo Sandstone, a rock formation from the Middle Jurassic period. Iron oxides in the stone gave it that pink color, and erosion ground it down grain by grain.

Wind funnels through a gap between the Moquith and Moccasin Mountains, picking up speed in what scientists call the Venturi effect. As the wind slows in the open valley, it drops the sand.

The dunes have been building this way for 10,000 to 15,000 years. Utah set the park up in 1963 with land from the Bureau of Land Management.

Rent a sandboard and wax it for speed

Sandboarding and sand sledding draw the biggest crowds here.

You can rent a board or sled at the visitor center for about $25, and each rental comes with a wax cube to help the board glide faster. Smaller dunes close to the parking area work well if you’re starting.

The taller, steeper dunes farther in give you a real ride. Fair warning: hiking back up through soft sand after every run will burn your legs fast.

ATVs tear across 90 percent of the dunes

About 90 percent of the dune field stays open to off-highway vehicles, including ATVs, UTVs, and dirt bikes.

The Sand Highway runs as a popular one-way trail along the boundary of the dunes, and the South Boundary Trail stretches several miles down the eastern side.

You can bring your own machine or book a guided UTV tour through the park concessionaire. Every rider needs an orange whip flag, and anyone under 18 has to wear a helmet by law.

Pick your own path across the sand

No set trails cross the dunes, so you can wander wherever you want. That freedom is the whole point.

If you’d rather skip the sand, a paved boardwalk leads to an observation deck with a wide view of the dune field. A short nature trail near the overlook has signs about the plants and animals that call this place home.

Just know that walking through deep sand takes twice the time and energy you’d expect, and the view from the tallest dunes reaches all the way to the surrounding red cliffs.

Camp under some of Utah’s darkest skies

The park has 34 campsites split into two loops. Sites 1 through 22 sit among the trees with no hookups, while sites 23 through 34 come with water and electric.

Hot showers, flush toilets, and a dump station round out the setup. The real draw at night is the sky.

Very little light pollution reaches the park, so the stars come out in force. Book ahead if you’re coming in spring or fall, because sites fill up fast during those months.

Watch for golden eagles hunting the dunes

Mule deer, coyotes, kit foxes, jackrabbits, and bobcats all move through the park. Look up, and you might catch red-tailed hawks or golden eagles hunting over the sand.

In spring, snowmelt collects in small pools between dunes and draws out salamanders and toads. Early morning and late afternoon give you the best chance to spot wildlife, when animals come out to feed.

Keep your distance, and keep pets on a leash.

One beetle lives here and nowhere else on Earth

The Coral Pink Sand Dunes tiger beetle exists only within this dune system.

It has pinkish-white wing cases and a metallic green head, and you won’t find it anywhere else on the planet.

During the day, it hunts other insects across the sand. At night, it buries itself beneath the surface.

Rainfall and drought push its population up and down from year to year, so the park closes a 265-acre conservation area to motorized vehicles to protect the beetle and its habitat.

A threatened plant that outruns the shifting sand

Welsh’s milkweed, a federally threatened species, grows mainly within this dune system.

The tall perennial is covered in woolly hairs that shield it from wind-blown sand, and it grows fast enough to stay ahead of the shifting dunes.

Most of the known population lives right here, with only a small group nearby.

The dunes also support ponderosa pine, juniper, globe mallow, and Indian ricegrass, all tough enough to root in sand that won’t sit still.

Sunrise turns the sand deep orange and pink

The dunes change color with the light. At sunrise and sunset, the sand glows deep orange and pink, and the contrast against red cliffs, green juniper, and blue sky makes for some of the best shots in southern Utah.

Get there early if you want clean, trackless sand before other visitors and vehicles roll in. The open landscape and night skies also pull in astrophotographers.

No special permits are needed for personal photography.

Zion is 28 miles away, and Bryce is 75

You can reach Zion National Park in about 28 miles from the dunes, and Bryce Canyon sits roughly 75 miles to the northeast. Kanab is only 20 miles out and works as a solid base camp.

Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon are both within driving distance, too.

Most people spend two to four hours at the dunes, so you can fit it into a bigger Utah road trip without rearranging your schedule.

Kids can play freely in the sand near the parking lot

Families with young children can turn the soft sand near the parking area into a giant sandbox. The dunes range from gentle slopes for little ones to steep climbs for anyone who wants a workout.

If you’re looking for more, guided rappelling tours off nearby canyon cliffs give you a different kind of rush. The park stays open year-round, seven days a week, during daylight hours.

It draws far fewer people than Zion or Bryce, especially on weekdays, so you can have whole sections to yourself.

Visit Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park in Utah

You can see the dunes for yourself at Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, located 12 paved miles off Highway 89 near Kanab, Utah. The park is open year-round during daylight hours, seven days a week.

Day-use entry runs $15 per vehicle, and the annual Utah State Parks pass works here, but the America the Beautiful national parks pass does not.

The visitor center rents sandboards and sleds, and sells firewood, ice, and basic supplies. Summer temperatures on the sand can top 100 degrees, so pack plenty of water and sunscreen.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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