After a lazy Sunday morning with breakfast at our favorite local Boise spot "The Egg Factory" on Fairview and Milwaukee we decided there was too much of a beautiful day left to spend at home. So we made a spontaneous decision to visit the Bruneau Sand Dunes State Park for an afternoon adventure. We left Boise about 10:00am and arrived at the dunes at approximately noon. After a quick stop at the visitors center we headed down toward the picnic area and hiking trails to the dunes. 

Here is a view from the road down to the trails.

Distant view of the Sand DunesThis is the dunes from the drive in. They don't look quite so big do they? Some background on the Bruneau Sand Dunes State Park:

History

"The Bruneau Sand Dunes State Park, established in 1970, is located about 8 miles east-northeast of Bruneau and about 18 miles south of Mountain Home. The dunes at Bruneau Dunes State Park are unique in the Western Hemisphere. Other dunes in the Americas form at the edges of natural basins; these form near the center.

The combination of 1) a source of sand; 2) a relatively constant wind activity; and 3) a natural trap have caused sand to collect in this semicircular basin for over 20,000 years. Geologists believe the dunes seen today may have started with sands from the Bonneville Flood about 15,000 years ago.

Unlike most dunes, these do not drift far. The prevailing winds blow from the southeast 28 percent of the time and from the northwest 32 percent of the time, keeping the dunes fairly stable.

Although there are many small dunes in the area, two prominent dunes cover approximately 600 acres. These two imposing dunes are striking, particularly because they dwarf most of the nearby land features. The westernmost dune is reported to be the largest single-structured sand dune in North America with a peak 470 feet above the level of the lakes" (Digital Atlas of Idaho, n.d.). 

We started our hike at the picnic area near the small lake. After wandering through the brush and marsh we eventually reached the foot of the dunes.

Walking in sand is harder than it looks so it was nice to have rain the previous day to firm up some of the trails.

Eventually we left the brush and started climbing the side of the dunes. This was taxing, even with the slight breeze and scattered clouds it was a hot, dry climb, especially at the base where there was still a lot of scrub brush.

Finally reaching the dunes and gaining a little elevation revealed beautiful views of sand, contrasting with the distant plateaus and views of the Snake River winding through the Bruneau Valley.

Views of the dunes themselves were spectacular, we were surprised at how few human tracks marred the dunes and it was almost like looking at an untouched landscape in some places.

Once on top of the dunes we enjoyed catching some captivating photos of the dunes and surrounding landscape framed by clouds.

A panoramic view of Brandon at the tallest point of the dunes reveals just how magnificent this landscape and view really is.

Overall we were rewarded with incredible views, relatively few people, and a fun filled afternoon. I really enjoyed playing with my new 12 mm wide angle lens for some of my shots. I especially liked this one as we were on our way out.

And a beautiful capture of the depth of field in the fine grains of sand with my new 35mm prime.

Overall this was a perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon. We left Boise about 10:00, with the drive down from Boise just under 2 hours and the time spent wandering the park and climbing the dunes with some rest time at the top had us headed back towards home before 4:00. No special equipment was needed, Brandon climbed in sandals and I wore my new boots - still working on breaking them in. Neither of us had issues. The most difficult part was keeping the camera gear from exposure to the sand. And as always it's important to plan on and bring a descent supply of drinking water, I think we went through our 2L platypus bag from start to finish of our hike. On a warmer day more water might be appropriate. And don't forget the sunscreen!

Hope you enjoyed the pictures as much as we enjoyed taking them on the hike. 

Until next time - happy trails!

V.

References:

Digital Atlas of Idaho. (n.d.) Bruneau Sand Dunes. Retrieved from http://imnh.isu.edu/digitalatlas/geog/parks/bruneau/bruneau.htm