And all of a sudden I was in a desert…in Oregon?!? Approximately 40 miles of dunes to be exact. The largest coastal sand dunes in North America.

We decided to do the John Dellenback Dunes trail, which is a pretty easy one-mile loop trail. When you reach the dunes you can run out and explore… then pick back up on the loop when your done making dunes angels!

The hardest part of this hike is how much time you want to spend running up and down the dunes. It’s hard enough to run in the sand let alone run up and down sand hills!

Open to the public year round everyone is welcome to explore the dunes. You can hike ’em, drive ’em, roll down ’em, sled ’em, board ’em, or a fan favorite ATV ’em. We had to opt for Lemon friendly exploring options which included hiking and sand angel making of course!

After playing in the dunes for way longer than adults should, we visited the Oregon Dunes day use area for some different views.

P.S. Make sure you stop at a pay station to get your $5.00 parking pass for the day. It you choose to do the John Dellenback Dunes trail you can go to the self pay station at Eel Creek Campground.
Now go build some sand castles…adventure awaits!