Bruneau Dunes State Park

Bruneau Dunes State Park
Idaho State Park
Bruneau sand dunes
Country	United States
State	Idaho
County	Owyhee

Location	Bruneau
- elevation	2,470 ft (753 m)
- coordinates	42°53′45″N 115°40′40″W / 42.89583°N 115.67778°W / 42.89583; -115.67778Coordinates: 42°53′45″N 115°40′40″W / 42.89583°N 115.67778°W / 42.89583; -115.67778

Area	4,800 acres (1,942.5 ha)

Founded	1970 ^[1]
Management	State of Idaho Parks and Recreation

IUCN category	V - Protected Landscape/Seascape

Location of Bruneau Dunes State Park in Idaho

Bruneau Dunes State Park is a state park of Idaho, USA, featuring several large sand dunes and two small lakes. The park is located south of Mountain Home, Idaho, outside of Bruneau. The park is the site of North America's highest single-structured sand dune which is approximately 470 feet (140 m) high. (North America's highest multistructured dune is at Great Sand Dune National Park in Colorado and is approximately 660 feet (200 m) higher than its immediate base.) The park is also the site of the Bruneau Dunes Observatory, where visitors can use a telescope for stargazing.

Natural history

Reportedly the tallest single-structured sand dune in North America rises to 470 feet (140 m) high above small lakes. The dunes at Bruneau Dunes State Park are unique in the Western Hemisphere. Other dunes in the Americas form at the edge of a natural basin. The Bruneau dunes form near the center. The basin has acted as a natural trap for over 12,000 years. The dunes may have started with sands from the Bonneville Flood about 15,000 years ago. The prevailing winds blow from the southeast 28 percent of the time and from the northwest 32 percent of the time, keeping the dunes fairly stable. Unlike most dunes, these do not drift far.^[1]

Flora and fauna

The state park includes desert, dune, prairie, lake and marsh habitat. Desert wildlife is prominent along with birds of prey and waterfowl. Fishing for bass and bluegill is popular in the park's small lake. Only non-motorized canoes, rafts and float tubes are allowed.

Recreation

Activities include fishing, birdwatching, camping, hiking, swimming and viewing the stars at the public observatory. No motorized vehicles are allowed on the dunes but climbing and sledding are permitted. There are 7-mile and 9-mile horseback riding trails around the dunes. An educational center offers natural history displays and a gift shop. The astronomical observatory is open Friday and Saturday evenings mid-March through mid-October. Two cabins, 82 RV sites (with water/electricity) and 32 standard sites are available year round in two campgrounds: Eagle Cove Campground and Broken Wheel Campground. An equestrian overnight facility, with corrals, is also available.^[2]

Park history

Land for the park was purchased under the Recreation and Public Purposes Act in May 1967. Additional land was acquired by the Department in 1980 and in 1984, bringing the total area to 4,800 acres (19 km²).^[3]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bruneau Dunes State Park.

1 2 Digital Atlas of Idaho. "Bruneau Sand Dunes". Idaho Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 2011-03-04.
↑ State of Idaho Parks and Recreation. "Bruneau Dunes State Park". Retrieved 2011-03-04.
↑ "State Lands in Idaho: History". Idaho Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 2011-03-04.

External links

Bruneau Dunes State Park

Protected areas of Idaho

Federal

National Parks	Yellowstone

National Historic Sites & Historical Parks	Minidoka NHS Nez Perce NHP

National Monuments	Craters of the Moon Hagerman Fossil Beds

National Forests	Bitterroot Boise Caribou-Targhee Clearwater Coeur d'Alene Idaho Panhandle Kaniksu Kootenai Nez Perce Payette Salmon-Challis Sawtooth St. Joe Wallowa–Whitman Wasatch-Cache

National Grasslands	Curlew

National Recreation Areas	Hells Canyon Sawtooth

National Wildlife Refuges	Bear Lake Camas Deer Flat Grays Lake Kootenai Minidoka Oxford Slough Waterfowl Production Area

National Conservation Areas	Snake River Birds of Prey

Wilderness Areas	Big Jacks Creek Bruneau–Jarbidge Rivers Craters of the Moon Frank Church–River of No Return Gospel Hump Hells Canyon Hemingway–Boulders Jim McClure–Jerry Peak Little Jacks Creek North Fork Owyhee Owyhee River Pole Creek Sawtooth Selway-Bitterroot White Clouds

State

State Parks	Bear Lake Bruneau Dunes Castle Rocks City of Rocks Coeur d'Alene Parkway Dworshak Eagle Island Farragut Harriman Hells Gate Henrys Lake Heyburn Lake Cascade Lake Walcott Land of the Yankee Fork Lucky Peak Massacre Rocks McCroskey Old Mission Ponderosa Priest Lake Round Lake Thousand Springs Three Island Crossing Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes Winchester Lake

Wildlife Management Areas	Big Cottonwood Billingsley Creek Blackfoot River Boise River Boundary Creek Camas Prairie Centennial Marsh Carey Lake Cartier Slough Cecil D. Andrus C.J. Strike Coeur d'Alene River Craig Mountain Deer Parks Farragut Fort Boise Georgetown Summit Hagerman Market Lake McArthur Lake Montour Montpelier Mud Lake Niagara Springs Payette River Pend Oreille Portneuf Red River St. Maries Sand Creek Snow Peak Sterling Tex Creek

Idaho Department of Parks & Recreation (website)

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, January 22, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.