Christmas Valley Sand Dunes are a natural sand dune

Dune

In physical geography, a dune is a hill of sand built by wind. Dunes occur in different forms and sizes, formed by interaction with the wind. Most kinds of dunes are longer on the windward side where the sand is pushed up the dune and have a shorter "slip face" in the lee of the wind...

 complex covering 11000 acres (44.5 km²) of public lands east of Christmas Valley

Christmas Valley, Oregon

Christmas Valley is an unincorporated community in Lake County, Oregon, United States. The community was named after nearby dry Christmas Lake, east of the present townsite and the site of the former Lake post office, which ran from 1906 until 1943. Real estate development around a planned...

 in Lake County

Lake County, Oregon

Lake County is a county in the high desert south central region of the U.S. state of Oregon, so named for the many lakes found within its boundaries, including Lake Abert, Hart Lake Reservoir, and Goose Lake. While Lake is among Oregon's largest counties, it is sparsely populated with 7,895...

, Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, about 100 miles (160.9 km) southeast of Bend

Bend, Oregon

Bend is a city in and the county seat of Deschutes County, Oregon, United States, and the principal city of the Bend, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area. Bend is Central Oregon's largest city, and, despite its modest size, is the de facto metropolis of the region, owing to the low population...

. The area is accessible via the Christmas Valley National Back Country Byway. The dunes are up to 60 feet (18.3 m) high. It is the largest inland shifting sand dune system in the Pacific Northwest

Pacific Northwest

The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...

. The dunes are composed mostly of ash and pumice from the eruption of Mount Mazama

Mount Mazama

Mount Mazama is a destroyed stratovolcano in the Oregon part of the Cascade Volcanic Arc and the Cascade Range. The volcano's collapsed caldera holds Crater Lake, and the entire mountain is located within Crater Lake National Park....

 that formed Crater Lake

Crater Lake

Crater Lake is a caldera lake located in the south-central region of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is the main feature of Crater Lake National Park and famous for its deep blue color and water clarity. The lake partly fills a nearly deep caldera that was formed around 7,700 years agoby the...

 7,000 years ago. Approximately 8900 acres (36 km²) of dunes are open to vehicles.

Administration

The area is part of a Bureau of Land Management

Bureau of Land Management

The Bureau of Land Management is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior which administers America's public lands, totaling approximately , or one-eighth of the landmass of the country. The BLM also manages of subsurface mineral estate underlying federal, state and private...

 (BLM) Area of Critical Environmental Concern

Area of Critical Environmental Concern

Areas of Critical Environmental Concern is a conservation ecology program in the western United States, managed by the Bureau of Land Management. The ACEC program was conceived in the 1976 Federal Lands Policy and Management Act , which established the first conservation ecology mandate for the BLM...

 and the land around nearby Fossil Lake is closed to vehicles. The BLM-administered lands also include the Lost Forest Research Natural Area

Lost Forest Research Natural Area

The Lost Forest Research Natural Area is a designated forest created by the Bureau of Land Management to protect an ancient stand of Ponderosa pine in the remote high desert county of northern Lake County, in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Oregon. Lost Forest is an isolated area of...

 to the east of the dunes.

Recreational use

The dunes are available for off-road

Off-roading

Off-roading is a term for driving a vehicle on unsurfaced roads or tracks, made of materials such as sand, gravel, riverbeds, mud, snow, rocks, and other natural terrain.-Off-road vehicle:...

 and ATV

All-terrain vehicle

An all-terrain vehicle , also known as a quad, quad bike, three wheeler, or four wheeler, is defined by the American National Standards Institute as a vehicle that travels on low pressure tires, with a seat that is straddled by the operator, along with handlebars for steering control...

 recreational use. The area is open all year, but can be inaccessible during the winter and spring months due to extremely muddy roads.

A $10 Oregon ATV operator permit may be required. A valid driver's license in addition to an Oregon DOT helmet for persons under 18 years of age.

External links

• Christmas Valley Back Country Byway from the National Scenic Byways Program