Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park: The Sahara of Utah
Truthfully, I had never heard of Coral Pink Sand Dunes until I stumbled across a picture on Instagram. Having visited the Sahara Desert before, I was convinced it was the same place! But nope. We have our own little mini Sahara right in Southern Utah. Who knew?
If you’re traversing all across Utah and the Southwest for a big road trip like I did, then you’ve likely done A LOT of hiking. Visiting the sand dunes is a great opportunity to kick off your shoes and wiggle your toes in the sand because, c’mon, who doesn’t love that feeling?!
Where is Coral Pink Sand Dunes?
Lucky for us, Coral Pink Sand Dunes is less than an hour from Zion National Park, making it a must on any Southwest road trip itinerary.
Less than half an hour away is the adorable little town of Kanab, which is where I stayed the night before. Even if you don’t spend the night in Kanab, I recommend passing through this little town to stop at The Soda Fountain. This little hideaway inside a pharmacy has smoothies, floats, ice cream, Italian sodas, and my personal favorite, the specialty sodas. (I’m from Pittsburgh so we say pop, but it’s on their menu as soda, so we’ll stick with that for now).
Here are my recommendations:
- Campfire – root beer with toasted marshmallow
- Dirty Classic – Dr. Pepper and coconut
- Mr. Classic – Dr. Pepper, almond, and cherry
- Beach Bum – I honestly can’t remember what was in this one, but it was sweet and fruity. It swept me right away to a tropical island!
Sunny Creek Coffee is another great stop in Kanab. It’s a breakfast food truck with smoothies and croissants that are so good you’ll be getting back in line!
Coral Pink Sand Dunes: Know Before You Go
Coral Pink Sand Dunes is a state park, not national park. This means that, unfortunately, that America the Beautiful Pass doesn’t do us any good here.
It costs $10 per vehicle to enter the park. It also costs $25 for every sled and sandboard you rent. Keep this in mind if you’re traveling with a larger group. You might want to only rent one or two and take turns to keep costs down.
Tips for Coral Pink Sand Dunes
During my one day at the dunes, I made a LOT of mistakes. Since I messed up so much, that means you don’t have to! Here’s my best tips for the park.
Bring sunscreen and lots of water. There’s no shade out there and the sun can get intense. I was there in mid-October, and I was definitely feeling the heat even in the early morning.
The park is open from 8-10 every day. I went as soon as it opened, and it was perfect. I had the park practically to myself for about an hour. Plus, I was able to escape some of the heat by coming so early.
Bring your own sled. I personally preferred sand boarding and found it to be WAY more fun, but I know it’s not for everyone. Unfortunately the sleds didn’t work very well. No matter how much I tried to lift the front end up, it kept getting buried and stuck in the sand, so instead of gliding down it was a bunch of starts, stops, and scoots. If I could do it over again, I would have stopped at a nearby Walmart and bought a cheap round sled with upturned edges. That would probably be tons of fun!
It’s a lot easier than snowboarding. I’m a pretty decent skier, so I thought snowboarding would be a breeze. BOY WAS I WRONG. I am absolutely awful at snowboarding, but I was able to pick up sand boarding pretty quick because it’s MUCH easier. If I can do it, you can, too. You can’t wear shoes with the way the straps are, so I recommend taking your socks off and just going barefoot.
Go to the bathroom beforehand. It’s actually a pretty long walk from the parking lot to the dunes. Ok, it’s not THAT long, but it takes forever when you’re trudging through sand. Trust me, you won’t want to walk back and forth for a bathroom break. There aren’t porta potties or anything out in the dunes, so if it’s an emergency you’ll have to bury it, which I really don’t recommend doing to one of our country’s beautiful state parks. So please, just go ahead of time.
Wax your board A LOT. The attendant at the admissions booth will give you wax for your board/sled to keep it slick. I waxed mine every time before I went up the hill, and it rode great.
Don’t wear nice clothes. I am ALL about the Instagrammable pics, but trust me, this is not the place for your designer duds. It took me a few tries to get the hang of sand boarding, and I wiped out a few times. I got sand EVERYWHERE. I had such a hard time getting it off, that I shut my clothes in the window on the ride out and let the wind blow out all that sand. As I write this, I’m still finding sand in places where sand shouldn’t be!
It’s exhausting. Visiting Coral Pink Sand Dunes and trying your hand at sand boarding or sand sledding is 1000% worth it, and I would do it over again in a heartbeat. BUT, it is really tiring. Riding down the hill is so quick and only takes a few seconds, but it is TOUGH to hike up those steep dunes with your board. More than likely you’ll want to keep riding down but be too tired to keep walking back up. That’s what happened to me.
