Golden Sand, Magic Light
GOLDEN SAND, MAGIC LIGHT
Exploring America’s prettiest little dune system
JUST A FEW MILES NORTH OF THE GRAND CANyon, one mile over the Utah border, Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park spreads itself midway between the eastern edge of Zion National Park and the small town of Kanab. Finding a more spectacular corner of America would be hard enough in itself; finding a more scenic dune setting where you can also ride ATVs would be next to impossible. At least, that’s what Feature Editor David Edwards and I had heard about Coral Pink. We decided we simply had to go there for some recreational ATV riding, while finding out for ourselves if the place is all it was cracked up to be.
As we quickly learned, it is all that and more. The depth of the natural beauty of the landscape in and around the park is so overwhelming that your first thought is that in no wap could it be legal to ride here. The entire area could be a centerfold from a Sierra Club magazine, and the campground looks as if it fell out of a travel brochure, from its immaculate, individual campsites right down to the hotelquality restrooms and showers.
But riding is indeed legal at Coral Pink—which was convenient, since we had brought along a Honda 250X Fourtrax and a Kawasaki Mojave 250 for that very purpose. Before we could get suited up and head out on our first exploration, however, we were visited by Park Superintendent Charles Collins, a ranger who has been stationed at the site for nine years. It took only a few minutes of conversation with Collins for us to realize that this is his park. He has an intense interest in every rider and every machine that roughs up his sand, and is concerned that Coral Pink remains a safe place to ride, as well as a pleasant place to camp.
CAMRON E. BUSSARD
Rather than simply hanging around our truck and instructing us at great length on the virtues of the park, Collins eagerly agreed to accompany us on some of our rides around the dunes, even though he was off-duty. So, during much of our stay at Coral Pink, we had our own personal guide—albeit one who has as much fun riding four-wheelers as we do, but who also knows the best riding and viewing locations in the area.
WE FIRST HEADED TO THE NORTH END OF Coral Pink,and the highest point in the park. We had to take it easy for a while because the mid-morning sun was directly overhead, erasing any shadows and making the khaki-colored dunes appear flat and featureless in the bright light. It was nearly impossible to see the undulations in the sand, so we jumbled and bounced through dips we felt but didn’t see. It was just as difficult to distinguish the tops or bottoms of even the smallest dunes, a confusing perceptual problem that had us backing off the gas too soon, which then caused the machines to burrow into the sand just before the crest of most uphills.
Once we had wended our way up to the park’s northern boundary, we were able to look back over the whole Coral Pink dune system spread below us like a giant, pie-shaped wedge with us on the pointy end. From that vantage point, Collins explained that Coral Pink gets its name from the unusual color of the sand. The rounded dunes that look a single shade of umber from the road take on tints of rose, mauve and gold up close. Judging by the jagged, orangeand-pink sandstone bluffs that wall-in the dunes, the origins of the seamless, undulating sand is no mystery: The current dunes are bluffs that long ago eroded to sand.
Blending with the gentle colors and shapes of the sand, the edges of Coral Pink’s 2200-acre dune system are covered with a soft, green vegetation that maintains a surprisingly firm grasp in the sand. Thousands of ice-green milkweed plants grow like scraggly whiskers around the borders of the dunes, and sharp, verdant pine trees rim the eastern edge on and below the bluffs. It’s illegal to ride within 10 feet of any vegetation in the park, and Ranger Chuck isn’t shy about giving tickets to anyone caught making tracks too close to his trees. There’s little doubt that the vegetation contributes substantially to the beauty of the park; but more important, the greenery also contributes to the stability of the entire dune system.
Late in the afternoon, shadows begin to appear, and the dunes take on clearly defined shapes, with edges, tops and bottoms. Later, as the sun continues to roll westward, the golden-pink sand reflects the soft light, and becomes a photographer’s dream. It’s not unusual at sundown to see hikers out in the middle of the dunes, there not to ride, but to try to capture the sublime, ephemeral light slipping off the western faces of the sand.
HRUGHUT THE COURSE OF OUR Explorations, we observed that our machines easily outclassed Collins' older Honda Fourtrax. Both of our machines had more power and much better suspension, so we were able to climb straight up the steepest dunes, whereas Collins had to circumnavigate to reach the same point. But although our machines did scale all the uphills in the park, they almost didn’t make it up a couple of the steeper faces on the mega-dunes.
We were able to stay interested in dune climbing for only so long, given that we had come to poke around, play and explore, not just to see how far we could fly off the tops of the sand piles. So, we began doing more important stufF— like pulling wheelies and spinning donuts at every opportunity. This, of course, was all to the amusement of Ranger Chuck, who was duty-bound to remain responsible even on his days off.
We did, however, let Collins have a few spins on our machines, and he came away with the same basic impressions of them as we had. The Honda, for instance, with its slightly longer wheelbase and thinner fuel-tank/seat combination, was a natural slider, throwing up huge, pink plumes of sand at every turn. And on the faster sections of the dunes, the Honda felt more confident and surefooted than the Kawasaki.
But the Kawasaki had a stronger engine, one that let it climb taller dunes more easily and achieve a higher top speed. At lower speeds, the Kawasaki turned more quickly and sharply than the Honda, so it would dart under and cut off the Fourtrax during spontaneous sliding contests. And the Kawasaki had a soft seat and a firm ride, while the Honda was just the opposite, with a firm seat and a soft, almost plush ride. Both turned out to be excellent choices for all-around dune competence, but Collins allowed as how given a choice for chasing down the occasional dune marauder, he would choose the Honda, even though he preferred the styling of the Kawasaki.
When it finally was time for us to start heading home, we had been convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that, despite its awe-inspiring beauty. Coral Pink is a well-managed. meticulously maintained ATV riding area—thanks to high-caliber people like Collins. It’s one of those rare places where you get as much pleasure from sightseeing as you do from riding. And with its secluded campsites and great facilities, it is in many ways the perfect family campground/riding area. Also, the rangers are constantly available should you need help, yet they are quite unobtrusive. The only problem is that Coral Pink is a relatively small area with limited camping space, so you have to make reservations well in advance if you want to camp there.
Oh, yes, there is one other problem: Coral Pink will spoil you. After you’ve spent even a little time riding in this land of golden sand, unbelievable splendor and magical light, your usual riding area just might seem like one of the ugliest places on Earth.
