I just got back from my second trip in the last month. I can't believe how busy this place is. The riding is not busy but the camping area is very cramped. Is it always like this?

Also, it looks like they closed down most of the better riding areas. Was it much better before or is this just a temporary closure?

 

I avoid the place in July and August now....camping is way too crowded with the beach closure and more people seem to show up there in July and August...I only go in June now..Hard to say what they closed in the dunes...seems like all my green sticker money buys anymore is fence material..

 

Maybe try the off-season and mid-week. Windy season will have the best dunes, but the most miserable camping....

We have been going there since the old days before the closures, and I can hardly stand it now! I can deal with bad camping if the riding was great, or I could deal with bad riding if the camping were great....but the last few times we were there the camping was to crowded and the dunes were all rounded off and there wasn't a bit of virgin untracked sand anywhere. Right now I have no desire to go back.

 

The deserts in So Cal are just way too hot to ride now so it was a good change. My son goes to Cal Poly so I got to spend time with him also

 

I learned to show up on Sunday when moost people are leaving, easy to get a nice spot. starts getting crouded by Thursday.
For me it is just a nice get away from the heat, some times you might hit the dunes after som wind and it's OK other times the dunes are so beat up the only place to ride is the fence line where there aren't cross tracks.

 

The closure is for the "endangered" Western Snowy Plover so they can get their groove on. It's closed from February through September or something like that.

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I have to wonder why with over 900 miles of coast line, the little bird needs that 3 mile or so strip of beach... Where did the little birds reproduce during the 40 plus years the beach wasnt closed?

 

MWQ- Please don't bring common sense into a conversation with a enviro liberal. They will just stare back with a puzzled look on their face and then start cursing at you .

I called the ranger station last week and started out giving them a few complements and then asked basically the same question. The line went blank for a while as she was trying to come up with an answer to a very simple question

It also nice to see that they are using the green sticker funds. Too bad it's for fencing.......

 

The fuss is about the Western Snowy Plover. While local populations along the Pacific coast may indeed have declined over the years, there is no way this bird is truely "endangered" by any means. There are large populations inland, especially at Mono Lake, Salton Sea, and the Great Basin. This is just another excuse for those who do not like motorized recreation....to squeze you out of any additional area they can!!!

It is more likely that predation by other animals is more of a factor than habitat loss, seeing that for the most part the coastline is very well preserved. As I recall, it was found that when they first fenced off the restricted area, predation (by foxes and guls) went way up because we humans weren't there anymore to scare the predators off.....

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Its a insane list of animals used to close down parts or all of riding areas...Blunt nosed lizards, Desert turtles, Deer, Spotted owls, etc.....every time its a bunch of BS and every time we take it in the shorts..

Fascinating that a lie by the right group is better than the truth from the wrong group...