How to Ride Sand Dunes: First-Timer Tips for Sand Hollow

Sand Mountain’s red dunes sit right beside Sand Hollow State Park near Hurricane, Utah, and they are some of the most fun sand you can ride anywhere in the West. Sand isn’t dirt, though. It moves under your tires, hides drop-offs behind every ridge and rewards a smooth right foot. This is what our crew tells every first-timer before they head through the tunnel.

Before you ride 8 sand skills Dune manners When to ride Getting in Ride with a guide

Before you head out

• Take Utah’s OHV education course. Every OHV operator in Utah needs it, and a rental company can’t hand over the keys without it. The adult course is free online, takes 15 to 30 minutes and only has to be done once in your life. Our drivers must be 18 or older with a valid driver’s license, so the free adult course is the one you need.
• Check your whip flag. Every machine in the dunes needs an 8-foot whip with a red or orange flag on top. The flag is how other riders spot you before you come over a ridge, so make sure it’s mounted and standing upright.
• Helmet and goggles on. Both come with our rentals. Helmets are required in the park for riders under 18 and strongly recommended for everyone. Goggles matter more than you’d think, because a windy afternoon fills the air with fine sand.
• Pack for the desert. Bring more water than you think you need, sunscreen, a phone with a charge and a light layer for the evening. Shade is scarce once you’re out on the sand.

Point the nose straight up the face and keep the throttle steady all the way to the top.

How to drive on sand: 8 skills that matter

1. Keep steady momentum. Sand drags on your tires the whole time. Smooth, steady throttle keeps you riding on top of it. Stopping halfway up a climb is how most people get stuck.
2. Climb straight up the face. Point the nose straight up the slope instead of angling across it. Driving sideways across a steep face is the most common way to tip a machine.
3. Slow down before every crest. You can’t see what’s on the other side of a dune. It might be a steep drop-off, a bowl or another rider coming up. Ease off as you reach the top and look before you go over.
4. Come down straight and easy. Point downhill, stay light on the brakes and let the machine roll. Hard braking or turning on a steep descent can slide the back end around.
5. Turn on flat ground or uphill. A sharp turn on a sidehill or at speed can dig a tire in. Save your wide turns for level sand.
6. The faster you go, the less you turn. At speed, small, slow movements of the steering wheel are all you need. Cranking the wheel while you’re moving fast in soft sand is the quickest way to roll a machine.
7. Read the sand. A sharp, knife-edged ridge usually means a steep drop on the far side. Rounded tops are friendlier. When you’re new, follow fresh tracks from riders who went before you.
8. If you get stuck, don’t dig in. Let off the gas, back down the way you came and take another run with a little more speed and a straighter line. Spinning the tires only buries them deeper.

Dune manners that keep everyone safe

• Keep all four wheels on the sand. No jumping, no donuts, and no fishtailing or power sliding. These are the moves that roll machines and hurt people, and they aren’t allowed with our rentals.
• Leave plenty of space between machines and ride single file through narrow spots.
• Never stop on top of a crest or just below one, where riders coming up can’t see you. Pull off to the side on open, flat sand.
• Keep your flag up and your lights on, and ride with at least one other machine when you can.
• Stay off plants and out of closed areas, and pack out everything you bring in.
• Kids can ride along as passengers with a parent or guardian’s OK. Make sure they wear a helmet and can hold on with both feet on the floor.

Whip flags let other riders see you over the dunes. Park on flat sand, never on a crest.

When to ride the dunes

Spring and fall are the sweet spot, with warm days and cool mornings. In summer, ride early in the morning or in the last few hours before sunset, because the sand gets hot and the midday sun is hard on people and machines. Winter days are mild in Southern Utah and the dunes are quieter. The best light of the day comes right before sunset, when the red sand glows, which is why our sunset tours fill up first.

Golden hour on the sand is worth planning your day around.

Getting to the dunes

The dunes and the named trails are on Sand Mountain, Bureau of Land Management land right next to the state park. That gives you a free way in.

• Free: Waddy’s Corral trailhead (the Water Tanks). Follow Sand Hollow Road south across the Southern Parkway (State Route 7) and keep going about half a mile up the hill to the lot between the water tanks. There’s a big staging area and a restroom, and the BLM charges no fee. Water Tank Road heads south into the dunes, and the Lakeside road runs east toward Milt’s Mile, Triple 7s and other favorites.
• Through Sand Hollow State Park. Pay the park’s day-use fee at the entrance gate, then take the tunnel south from the OHV staging area onto Sand Mountain. Anything inside the park, including the tunnel, the beaches, the reservoir and the campgrounds, needs a park pass.
• Ride from our location. Our side-by-sides and ATVs are street legal, so you can drive right from our location to the Water Tanks trailhead, with no trailer to tow. See every way in, plus the popular trails and spots, on our Sand Hollow trail map, and read more about Sand Hollow and Sand Mountain.

First time? Ride with a guide

A guide rides with your group, shows you the lines up and over the dunes and takes you to the overlooks above the reservoir without any guesswork. You can add a guide to any rental for as long as you like when you book. Pick a 2-seat sport model for two people, a 4-seat machine for a family, or a 6-seat Can-Am Defender for a bigger group on our ATV and UTV rentals page.

Ready for more than the dunes? Try the West Rim Trail, Milt’s Mile, Wayne’s World or the Nasty Half, or swap the machine for a sandboard and ride the same dunes on foot.

More ride guides: the Sand Hollow trail map, the whip flag rules and riding the dunes with kids.