# Glamis Sand Dunes



## Rick50 (Nov 13, 2014)

In the corner of California, Arizona, and Mexico is an area of sand dunes that are 5 miles wide and 45 miles long. The only town is Glamis, Ca. Several years ago I did some off-roading and carried an Olympus 850 Stylus camera with me. It was water proof and pretty much dust proof. Had some good times out there and thought I might share.
Sunrise:





Oldsmobile Hill at sunrise:




Glamis: Ann sitting on my green Kawasaki quad.




Boardmanville: I think people took some signs.




Me, Ann, and my sister:




Pattons Valley: Gen George Patton used the valley for tank training in WW2.




Ann:


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## mmaria (Nov 13, 2014)

oh..... 

envy...


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## Ron Evers (Nov 13, 2014)

Looks like fun!


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## Designer (Nov 13, 2014)

When we lived in SoCal our neighbors went there a lot, but this is the first time I can see what it looks like.  Thank you!


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## Paul Josaph (Nov 13, 2014)

Rick50 said:


> In the corner of California, Arizona, and Mexico is an area of sand dunes that are 5 miles wide and 45 miles long. The only town is Glamis, Ca. Several years ago I did some off-roading and carried an Olympus 850 Stylus camera with me. It was water proof and pretty much dust proof. Had some good times out there and thought I might share.
> Sunrise:
> 
> woow how can a desert be a dust proof , tell us something more about it.
> ...


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## Gary A. (Nov 13, 2014)

On my must visit list. How far is it from Anza-Borrego? Any wineries nearby?


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## Rick50 (Nov 13, 2014)

Gary A. said:


> On my must visit list. How far is it from Anza-Borrego? Any wineries nearby?


About 50 miles. California is 180 miles wide at the bottom for an estimate.

Avoid Thanksgiving weekend when the crowds show up. 200,000+ will be there. Lots of partying, several people will die from accidents (happens every year), Sand drags will have high HP sand cars doing over 100MPH like this guy.


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## KmH (Nov 13, 2014)

Whoa.
That brings back memories. P A R T Y ! ! ! !

I was born in Brawley, grew up in Tucson, but we moved back to Brawley and I did school grades 8-12 there. I graduated from high school in 1969.
Glamis was a popular spot even back then.
Gas was about $0.25 a gallon.
A very common wood shop project in high school was making a sand surf board.

For us locals, another popular, but smaller, sand dune spot was the Superstition Mountains west of Brawley and on the west side of the National Parachute Test Range.


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## Designer (Nov 13, 2014)

The neighbor built a dune buggy (VW engine) and also built a child-size buggy for his son.  They both fit on the same trailer.


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## Rick50 (Nov 13, 2014)

KmH said:


> Whoa.
> That brings back memories. P A R T Y ! ! ! !
> 
> I was born in Brawley, grew up in Tucson, but we moved back to Brawley and I did school grades 8-12 there. I graduated from high school in 1969.
> ...



It's a small world. I like Brawley. Would stop every trip through for gas or sandwiches.
When I bought my buggy I went all over. Spent a day at Superstition.
This place:


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## Rick50 (Nov 13, 2014)

Gary A. said:


> On my must visit list. How far is it from Anza-Borrego? Any wineries nearby?


One more thing. You really can't see much from the road (Hwy 78 or I-8). You need an off-road vehicle dressed for sand (Tires,etc). The is a permit fee to get in (weekly or annual pass) and one should never go alone. Being stuck back in the dunes can be hazardous. Worse yet is having an accident. Just riding the bigger dunes will scare the pants off you. Walking in sand is not easy.


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## Rick50 (Nov 13, 2014)

One more post here for me. Here is a video on Duneing. If you go to You Tube and search Glamis Dunes there are tons.


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## limr (Nov 13, 2014)

Rick50 said:


> One more thing. You really can't see much from the road (Hwy 78 or I-8). You need an off-road vehicle dressed for sand (Tires,etc). The is a permit fee to get in (weekly or annual pass) and one should never go alone. Being stuck back in the dunes can be hazardous. Worse yet is having an accident. *Just riding the bigger dunes will scare the pants off you.* Walking in sand is not easy.



I'll stick to the bunny slopes 

Looks like a cool place though. So different from what I'm used to.


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## DavefromCt (Nov 13, 2014)

Nice! I especially love the lighting on the dunes!


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## Rick50 (Nov 13, 2014)

limr said:


> Rick50 said:
> 
> 
> > One more thing. You really can't see much from the road (Hwy 78 or I-8). You need an off-road vehicle dressed for sand (Tires,etc). The is a permit fee to get in (weekly or annual pass) and one should never go alone. Being stuck back in the dunes can be hazardous. Worse yet is having an accident. *Just riding the bigger dunes will scare the pants off you.* Walking in sand is not easy.
> ...


It is better than any E ticket ride at Disneyland and you can always bring extra pants so you can change back at camp for those occasions. 
I never did get up the nerve to do those big hills alone. Oldsmobile was my biggest alone. But I would follow someone and thats how it was mostly done. You would make a train and we used race radios to talk. The car in the front and in the rear always had a radio so they knew there were no drop-outs. The thrill is riding pretty much vertically down with your foot on the gas so you could get up the next hill.
And when you came up a hill you didn't dare go straight up over the top because you didn't know what was there. You would come to the top and turn and ride the ridge so you could see. The danger was if someone else was coming up the other side. Oops. Often times people would use spotters.

Anyway brings back fond memories. And since this is a public forum I can't tell you the fun at camp and the bonfires. 

From the top of Olds looking down:


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## limr (Nov 13, 2014)

It's something I'd be willing to try. I can generally handle myself behind the wheel of a vehicle, and I do like to push my own limits. I know my limits are probably below a lot of others - I never came first at go-karts but I never came in last, either!  - but I don't care about other people's limits, only my own. I don't know how big of a dune I would be able to handle, but it sure does look like a lot of fun.


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## dannylightning (Nov 15, 2014)

nice set.
a few of my friends have rail buggy's and those things are so much fun.   never been to sand dunes but we have taken them to some offloading parks around here.   what amazes me is you can get a good 5 or 6 foot of air in one of those when you jump something and they land so soft you can barley feel the landing, even if you land on flat ground


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## annamaria (Nov 15, 2014)

Looks like way too much fun!!!! Whooohoooo!


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