Bruneau Dunes – Another Example Why State Parks Rule!
That’s not a mountain, that’s North America’s largest sand dune.
One thing this trip has taught me — if you’re looking for a really great riding experience, look for a state park. The National Parks are just too focused on making things accessible for the paved-path-bound to put a lot of resources behind equestrian facilities. On the flip side, the National Forest lands are under-developed. You might identify what sounds like an amazing trail to ride only to find that it’s a ten-mile trailer ride over rugged fire roads to the trailhead where there’s absolutely no services – no room to turn or park a trailer, no water, etc. The state park systems have really delivered for us. During our training faze, there was Fair Hills in Maryland and Lost River in West Virginia. On this trip, there was the well-rated Brown County Park in Indiana, which we ended up missing. But we did make great stops at Kannapolis in Kansas and Lathrop in Colorado. And now there’s Bruneau Dunes in Idaho; another state park gem.
When I think of sand dunes, I don’t think Idaho. And, I suppose, if you use the plural – dunes – that oversight is merited. But, if you think in the singular – sand dune – you should think Bruneau Dunes State Park, which lies a bit southeast of Boise. The sand dune at the heart of this park is a whopper at 470 feet. In fact, it’s the largest ‘single-structured’ sand dune in North America and, it has these incongruent lakes at its feet. The equestrian facilities here are great. There’s a dedicated equestrian camp area with about a dozen campsites with small pole corrals, ample water, hitching posts for saddling up, a clean outhouse for the humans and a dedicated spot to put horse manure.
The trail that sets out from the campground makes a nine to ten-mile loop around the dune with markers along the way that are supposed to progress through the alphabet from A to Z. It immediately climbs up from the valley floor to these bluffs that hem the dune. Once on top of the bluffs, the path – which is largely hard earth covered by a few inches of loose sand – winds around the dune complex offering a variety of views that photos just can’t capture. Somewhere around the marker J, the trail descends the face of a bluff back down to the valley floor and the foot of the biggest dune. There, you have the choice of going from L direct to Q or taking a longer route. This longer option should be called bushwhacking because the wind has swept sand over the trail to the point of obliterating it and markers for M, N, O, and P are probably buried but surely not visible. It’s not like you can really get lost; there’s this massive dune you are circumnavigating that pretty much guides your path. But, there are some wire fences that have gates you need to find and some areas of deep sand that require your best Hildalgo impersonation (I love you, Vigo). When you finally find Q, it’s like arriving at an oasis because you can lead your horse to the edge of the lake for a well-earned drink. Now, that you are back with water, on the proper side of the dune to get to your trailer, and your horse pretty much exhausted, the trail is clear and markers R through Z easy to follow. Altogether, a great trail riding experience, if a little disconcerting at points.
Lessons learned at BD:
1. Renegade horse boots are great in sand if not on sandstone (we had backend issues on the scrambles at Kannapolis)
2. A sweaty horse rolling in a small pole corral can end up with said horse’s hind legs stuck between the poles of said corral if that horse is a dork – Guillermo
3. A sweaty horse rolling in a corral with soft sand footing can result in said bay horse looking like a buckskin if said horse is really thorough at covering every inch of fur – Juneau
4. Desert has one ‘s’, the word with two ‘s’ is the thing you eat after dinner (will need to go back and fix past blog posts)