Coral Pink Sand Dunes

Although overshadowed by the famous national parks in the vicinity, this Utah state park is also worth a visit. Sand dunes are unusual in this part of the Colorado Plateau, and the orange-pink color of the sand here is a sight to behold. The sand is recycled from erosion of the Navajo Sandstone, with the distinctive color coming from iron oxide minerals in the sandstone.

That accounts for the unusual sand, but why is it gathered into a dune field? A gap in the hills to the south funnels the prevailing southerly wind to where it can mobilize the sand, and then the sand is deposited as the wind spreads and slows beyond the gap.

The area hosts several organisms found nowhere else. The Coral Pink Sand Dunes tiger beetle occurs only in the dunes and was proposed for “endangered” status, as it is vulnerable to motorized activities. However, banning motorized travel from the core of its habitat seems to have stabilized its numbers.

The dunes are also one of four places where the threatened Welsh’s milkweed occurs. Finally, the range of the Kanab yucca is roughly a 20-mile radius centered on the dunes. This plant, however, is available as an ornamental for planting, which provides an unusual hedge against its extinction.

The Coral Pink Sand Dunes have also provided the setting for several movies.