Red Jeep Club


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These Trail run pages contain lots of pictures and details about different runs and events we have attended over the years. We don't mind hitting the trail with Jeeps, Trucks, Broncos and more. Many more trail runs that our club has taken over the past years, will be added as I get time. Some of these Utah Jeeping trips are from when we just jumped in the Red Jeep and headed out to see what we could see.

  Utah Trails Trails we have found outside of Utah
8-) Moab Utah 1999 Rubicon Trail Lake Tahoe California 2006
  Moab Utah 2000 Rubicon Trail Lake Tahoe California 2008
: -) Moab Utah 2001 Team Trophy Challenge Tillimook Oregon 2005
;-) Moab Utah 2005  
  Delta Utah 2006  
     
:-0 Jericho Little Sahara Sand Dunes. ATV information for Jericho Little Sahara Sand Dunes.
     
  Kanab Utah 2005  
:-> Kanab Utah 2007 or last but not least checkout our picture gallery and up load some of your favorite shots
Jericho Sand Dunes, Delta Utah

Little Sahara or Jericho Sand Dunes

How have the Dunes changed in the past 20 years?

I have been riding Motorcycles at the Jericho sand dunes for the past 20+ years. These dunes are also called the Little Sahara Sand dunes. They are located in central Utah about 30 miles west of Nephi and 30 miles north of Delta. Over the years I have seen many changes to the Dunes, the facilities, and the people that visit the area. One thing that has not changed is the motorcycle I ride. I still have and ride and love my 1986 CR500R. This is almost and antique, but it is the perfect Sand dunes machine. Light and Lot's of power is the secret to riding on the Sand.

Changes to the Dunes.

The physical area of the dunes has been the same for years, but the sand is slowly moving. The wind blows in a general northern direction. So the sand has been moving from the southern tip of the dunes area toward the northern area. I think I have officially read that the sand moves 5-8 inches a year. With that being said I have not really noticed a difference over the years. The area is huge and the sand is very plentiful, so I don't see the dunes riding area going away any time soon. I remember a lot of sand all around the base of Sand Mountain, now the flat area is mostly covered in very hard dirt versus deep sand. Some of the other areas of sand mountains that have changed is at the peak some of the hard rough rocks are exposed. But these changes are very minimal and do not effect the riding terrain much. It is still a great area for riding any type of motorcycle, ATV, Jeep, Truck, Dune Buggy or Sand Rail.

Changes to the Facilities.


Over the years I have seen improvements to the general facilities at the Jericho Sand Dunes. The area is operated by the United States Bureau of Land Management or the BLM, and they have done a good job of keeping the facilities clean operational and updated. Over the years the three main camp grounds have stayed about the same, these being Sand Mountain, the Oasis Camp Ground, and the White Sands campground. I have seen two new big toilet facilities added at Sand Mountain, and I have seen new toilets and facilities added on the main road entering the White Sands campground. The biggest improvement has been the addition of 10 or more table and sun shade pavilions at the Jericho Picnic area. This area was initially a day use area, and is surrounded by a large fenced off area where Motorized use is restricted. They have opened it up to overnight camping. So if you camp in here with ATVs then you need to zip down the road about 500 yards and get outside the fence to access the dunes and ride. The area that is off limit to riding ATV around the Jericho picnic area is a great place to camp and stay and play in the sand with woring about kids getting run over by ATV's. Kids love the big sand piles and can play in and on them. It is very common to see kids roling down the hills, and runing around in the deep sand.
Changes in the people that visit the Dunes.
20 years ago I remember seeing a few sand rails, a few ATVs, a ton of 3 Wheelers, and tons of Motorcycles. Motorcycles are the king of the Dunes. If you were on the dunes you were mostly surrounded by 2 wheel 2 stroke machines. Then as the ATVs exploded in popularity, I watched a decline in motorcycles, with a major surge in the number of ATVs on the sand. Then in the past 4-5 years Motorcycle have made a come back. So now on the Dunes I have been surprised to see about a equal number of 4 wheelers and motorcycles. As Always you see a few buggies, Jeep, and Sand rails running around. The BLM also requires flags on all motorized vehicles. Even motorcycles require flags, so be prepared if you ride on the dunes you must add a flag to your machine.

Changes in the people that visit the Dunes.

20 years ago I remember seeing a few sand rails, a few ATVs, a ton of 3 Wheelers, and tons of Motorcycles. Motorcycles were the king of the Dunes. If you were on the dunes you were mostly surrounded by 2 wheel 2 stroke machines. Then as the ATVs exploded in popularity, I watched a decline in motorcycles, with a major surge in the number of ATVs on the sand. In the past 10 years or so the decline of the 2 stroke engines happened, being replaced with heavier adn quieter 4 strokes engines. I like the quiet aspect of the 4 stroke engines, but they just don't and can't create the same ride as a big bore 2 stroke engine. Then in the past 4-5 years Motorcycle have made a come back. So now on the Dunes I have been surprised to see about a equal number of 4 wheelers and motorcycles. As Always you see a few buggies, Jeeps, and Sand rails running around. The BLM also requires and enforces the use of flags on all motorized vehicles. Even motorcycles require flags, so be prepared if you ride on the dunes you must add a flag to your machine. This is easy enough as many different aftermarket products are available to hook a flag to the rear swing arm or seat mounting bracktes on you motorcycles and ATV's.

The explosion of ATV popularity.
The past ten years have shown a major explosion in the sheer number of ATV's and motorcycles that being sold and licensed in the the state of Utah and most all other states. With this being said the dunes have seen a major increase in traffic and use. Which is fine the Dunes area is really well suite to handle all the increase in ATV traffic. The snad dunes handle the ATV traffic very well. The tires from ATV's can spin and move and flip sand all over the place, and then a small wind storm comes along and erases all the track and restores the dunes to a nice smooth flat area ready for new travelers. The dunes do support a bunch of green vegitation, and wild life. The extensive ATV travel has not had much effect on this vegitation over the years. Motorcycle and ATV's stay away from the plant because it is a lot more fun to ride on the smooth exposed Dunes vs. the rough area that has green vegitation.

The year of the Toy Hauler.

Another big change I have seen is how people camp at the Dunes. The RV industry invented the Toy Hauler camper and these are a huge hit with the Motorcycle and ATV crowd. A toy hauler is a camper trailer, either a tongue pull or fifth wheel trailer, with a big door in the back that opens and allows the storage and transportation of 3-4 motorcycles and/or ATVs These trailers are designed with removable tables and beds in the back that folds out of the way making room for a garage type area for ATVs To get back to the dunes and camping, I have seen tons and tons of Toy Hauler campers at the dunes. Every weekend the campgrounds are full of big campers with big families and lots of ATVs and motorcycles. I must also admit that I have a Toy Hauler camper and I love it. It is a very nice trailer and meets my needs of having a nice trailer and the ability to take my ATVs and motorcycles with me. I also have the benefits of hot water, stoves, showers, and nice soft beds. I guess it's all part of getting older and wanting the comforts of homes while camping. Toy Hauler campers have also been designed to be better campers than the campers of the old days. Upgrades include things like 100 or gallons of fresh water, outside showers, and fuel stations.

How to ride in the Sand

Riding on the Dunes is a tricky type of atv riding, it is lot's of fun but is different from trail riding. The differences include the instability of the soft sand under the tires, the wide openness of the dunes, and the lack of designated trails to ride on. The heat of the sun and the shading of the dunes as the sun moves across the sky. To safely ride on the dunes you need to consider all of these things and think a bit before riding on the sand the first few times. The soft sand on and your tires is a challenge. The help make you ATV go across the dunes air pressure is a essential thing. You should have low air pressure for riding onthe sand. The lower the better, but be warned if you go too low you risk getting a flat tire or poping a bead and riping the tire off the rim. This is a hasle but not a catastrafic event ont he Dunes. I have ridden for a year ont he dunes with a flat front tire on my motorcycle. I was too lazy to fix it and the and dunes didn't really care. Another aspect of the soft sand your tires is the fact that if you slow down too much on the sand your tire will dig into the sand. This is a problem with ATV when they are climbing a hill, if they slow down and stop without turning you run the risk of digging in the rear tire of the ATV and increasing your chances of rolling over backwards. The other thing about motorcycle and sand it the way motocycles handle on the sand. The tires are small and the sand is soft motorcycles can easily wiggle around and cuase the rider to fall. The front wheels can wash out and the bike can tip. So just be aware wehn you fisrt hit the sand it's a different animal, but a very fun animal to ride once you master it.

Maintain your speed, the soft sand eats all of you momentum and power very quickly, so when driving onthe dunes it's a good idea to keep your speed up when approaching hills. Go fast when approaching a hill and keep your speed untill about 2 feet from the top, at this point turn of the power to the rear wheels and you machine will just about come to a complete stop as you crest the hill. This technique takes a bit to get used to but works very well int he sand. It's kinda scary to apporach the hills with what seem like way too much speed, but beleive me if you trun off the gas at the top you will just about stop. The other option of approaching the hill too slow if determental. You will get to the stop of the hill and stop befor making it over the top, at this point your rear wheel will dig into the sand you will fall over and down the hill with the chance that your motorcycle will fall on you. Beleive me this is not fun, I have tested this out many times.

The lack of designated trails on teh dunes is also something to consider. This makes for lots of fun, but open the possibilites of atv's and motorcycle crashing into each other. What we have always doen it play race me chase me. This means we all get in a line and follow each other over the dunes. This makes the riding fun and a lot safer. First off the fact that all the riders in your group are folowing each other eliminates the possibilites that you can crash into your friends. It also give all the riders following the leader a good idea of what to expect onthe trail ahead. If the leader goes over a hill and quickly disapears then the next rider in line need to be careful as the approach the top of the dune. The other benefits are the leader can see other riders on the dunes and avoid them by just leading your group around the others. The leaders can also learn to read the dunes and safely lead the group around the Dunes. At Jericho the dunes are created by the wind which blows from the south toward the north. This creates a set of dunes that are gradualy sloped from the south and drop off steepky on the north side. This is a general rule not an absolute. So just take this as guidance, if you are traveling southward you can generally expect the dunes to be grandual on the down hill side. If you are traveling northward the dunes drop off very seriously at the peaks.

Getting around the Dunes:

Sand Mountain:

The southern end of the Jericho dunes area, is the greater Sand Mountain area. This include the big mountain face called Sand Mountain and the greater area surrounding the main sand mountain face. Sand Mountain is a big steep face and sand covered rock mountain. This mountain is a about 1200 feet tall and is covered with rack and rock and vegitation. The fun part of sand mountain is the face and the backside face. The main face of the mountain is a straight up very steep dune face that climbs up about 1000 feet. Climbing Sand Mountain is reserved for the big boys, for big engine machines with paddle and lot's of extra horse power. People very often line up and race from the base to the top of the mountain. This is a very good way of comparing machines and capabilities of riders. Climbing the face is extremely fun. Right next to the face is a large fin area that sperates the face from teh backside face. The back side face is a more sloping and gradual area the is behind the front face of the Mountain. It is not as steep and doesn't require as much power and speed as the face. The top of this face adn the front face meet so it;s fun to climb the back side and go down the front face. Decending the front face is a lot of fun.

Behind sand mountain to the west are what I call the big dunes. The area is filled with big wid sweeping dunes that are large. This includes dunes that are 200-300 feet deep and as big around as a foot ball stadium. These are fun to zoom around and up and down. Any machine can play in these dunes not just the big power boys, you just need to keep up your speed and momentum.

The suns shading on the dunes. Be very careful when riding on the dunes the sun plays a lot of trick with the way the dune look.

Oasis Camp Ground:

This campground is in the center of the Dunes area. This sits next to a small hill that provides some shade and wind breaks for the area. This campground is where we always stay. It is centerally located around the dunes, it's about 5 miles north of Sand Mountain and 6 or 7 miles south of the White Sand's Campground. The campground sits on the east side of the dune range. From the campground you can get right on the dunes. In this area the dunes range is about 3 miles wide and the dune range from a few large dunes a ton of medium sized dunes and a few small dunes. Riding in this area is very fun. It continues being the area that we keep going back to year after year. When you are out playing on the Dunes the hill behind the campground is a good reference for finding your way off the dunes and back to the campground.

Jericho Picnic Area:

This campground and lunching area is also located in the center of the dunes. It sits on the eastern edge of the dunes range and is surrounded by a fenced off area that does not allow motorized access. This area is about 1/2 a mile from the Oassis campground. Right across the road from the Jericho picnic area is an RV dump station for people to use as they leave the dunes area.

White Sands Campground:

This campground is at the very northern end of the Dunes range. The gampground is also east of the Dunes. It is a big campground and also contains a number of camps on the main road entering the area. The campground is marked by a big tall flag pole with a light on it for night time navigation. The dunes area around white sand contain a good grouping of small and medium sized dunes. They are not as consistant as the dunes around Oassis, or Sand Mountain, but that doesn't mean they are not a ton of fun to play on.

Lifted Jeep Pictures:

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