I want to make a trip to one of these places but I'm not sure which. Which has better riding (hills, bowls, wide open, etc), better facilities and if there are any towns very near by. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!!

 

I went to both last year and I think St. Anthony's was the best. There's a great campground(KOA?) at one end of the dunes, grass, trees, bathrooms, full RV hookups. From there you ride right out into the dunes, its about a 30min ride to the big hills, and I mean big! Bring your paddle tires, they don't call it Choke Cherry hill for nothing! I think there's a St. Anthony website, just do a search on yahoo. The town is only 5 miles away if you need stuff. Outside of the big dunes, there's a large area of sand hills to play on from 5 to 25ft tall, so if you have any little one's they can play all day on those just outside of camp. Also this time of year the weather is cooler in ID then UT. Anyway that's my 2 cents. Hope that helps, later

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'96 Warrior, 2001 B&W Raptor on order
'98 Banshee (new girl friends bike, hence the Raptor!)

 

Dreamduner, thanks a lot for the feedback. Yea, I thought about it being cooler in Idaho as well. I went to Rock Springs (Killpecker dunes) this last weekend and roasted; no trees or shade of any kind.

Anybody else been to these places???

 

Ut does get real hot in the summer.. best time to go is in the fall and in the spring... there are also play areas in the ut dunes at the white sands camp ground. The best place to ride in ut is behind sand mountain.. there are some big dunes there,

 

I have been to Little Sahara but not the St. Anthony dunes. Some friends on mine have been to Idaho and they said there was a lot of Rangers and regulations at the Idaho dunes. They also stated theres a shallow lake in the dunes. I also have read that the Idaho dunes are not as large(acre wise) as Utah. The downside to Utah is that there are no major towns really close. I believe Delta, Utah is 45 miles away and they do have a cycle shop for parts. I think either place would be good a little later in the year.
Utah has plenty of camping but no hook-ups, fresh water, trees for shade, and restrooms. Make sure you bring your own fire wood....
97, 300EX and 99 Recon

 

St Anthony kicks butt!! yea little sahara has more total acres, but the dunes in Idaho are huge! I make it up there at least once a month, it's about a 3 1/2 hour trip from Ogden, Ut but worth every minute, stay at Egan lakes they are closer to the bigger dunes, it's about a 20 minute ride to the big dunes if you stay at Sandhills resort. but they do have showers, check out www.sand-dunes.com & my web page www.angelfire.com/ut/sandslingin let me know when you are going and maybe I'll meet ya there.
and yes it is very hot in Utah right now

 

also the rangers are mainly there on the major weekends, and the only thing they check is registration and make sure you have a flag, Rexburg is about 10 minutes from the dunes, all the major dealers have a shop there, and there are a couple of little parts stores, if you stay at the lakes there are clean restrooms, fresh water, a lake to cool off in, plenty of shady camp sites, and most of the time the "pit stop" is open, it is a semi trailer turned into a parts store/cold drinks and ice store, and suprisingly enough the prices aren't to bad, the camping is free and the people in Idaho are really nice, just a warning though, if you stay at the sandhills resort, be sure to follow the rules of the campground or they will kick you out without a warning.

 

SandDunatic, thanks for the great info! Good pics on the web site too. I'll be going over Labor Day weekend and camping in a tent someplace. I'll check out the Egan Lakes and KOA as it looks like the Sandhills Resort is mainly for RVs from what I got from their web site info. I'll be the only schmuck riding around on a stock blue 2000 Banshee.

 

WyoRider, there are only 3 campgrounds at the dunes, at Egan lakes, Sandhills resort, and in a farmers field in between the lakes and the resort. the resort and the farmers field both charge by the night, if you are going to be in a tent, the lakes are the place for you, Labor day weekend is pretty crowded, so get there early, I would suggest thursday night or early friday morning, or you will be camping on the road that comes from the pavement to the lakes, sandhills is probably all reserved for labor day, and there is no shade in the farmers field.
You will not be the only one riding around on a stock banshee, there are alot running around the dunes, I just hope you have paddles, a stock banshee with knobbies won't make it up any of the big hills, then again I have seen a stock banshee with paddles not make it up choke cherry, it just depends on the conditions, you will understand what I am talking about when you first see choke cherry. I'll probably be there on labor day weekend, watch for my sandrail, if I don't sell it.

 

SandDunatic, You are truly a wealth of great info. I guess I'll go to Egan Lakes. I'll get there sometime Friday morning as I have to leave Cheyenne, WY around 6:00 PM on Thursday. Probably won't make it all the way to St. Anthony that night after working all day. I'll keep an eye out for your sandrail and say Hi if I see you. BTW, yea I at least have paddles for the Banshee.