The Oregon Sand Dunes

Visiting the Sand Dunes was one of the main highlights of our trip to the U.S. I had been telling Danny for weeks about all the fun I had had renting dune buggies 20 years ago and I know he wanted to try it too.

Arriving at the second rental location south of Florence (the first only had group tours) we discovered that they were heavily booked and we'd have to wait a few hours.


Also, there were no longer any actual dune buggies available, only ATVs. This later turned out to be a good thing because the ATVs gave us more flexibility and lots of power.




We went through a 15-minute safety orientation and then went for lunch. Arriving back, we suited up with helmets and goggles. Here's Danny just seconds after he got on his vehicle for the first time.




Half a dozen of us then ventured out onto the dunes, accompanied by a guide. At first we both kept on getting stuck in the sand. This happened because we were reluctant to give it too much gas. Also, we quickly learned that if you're going to stop your machine, it's best to do so on a slight decline. Danny later put it very well: "The first hour wasn't so good but the second was great!"



This was actually shot earlier in the day but gives a good perspective of the size of the dunes. They actually are quite steep but if you go down straight, you'll do alright.



Here are 3 videos that give a great perspective of what it was like to be out there. The one of me trying to follow Danny was shot with my right hand on the gas and my left hand holding the handlebar as well as trying to video. I'm actually quite surprised that I captured anything!





Danny & I rented the ATVs for 2 hours. There wasn't enough fuel for this length of time so we had to come back in the middle. It was a good break for me to ingest some water to parch my thirst, as well as to put a little creme on my leg which I had burned when lifting Danny's machine out of the sand one time.



The dunes truly are a spectacular sight. It's fascinating how nature deposited all of that sand as it did, in one particular region of the West Coast.