Bruneau Dunes State Park is a public recreation and geologic preservation area in the
western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, located in
Owyhee County
Owyhee County ( ) is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 census, the population was 12,133. The county seat is Murphy, and its largest city is Homedale. In area it is the second-largest county in Ida ...
in
southwestern Idaho
Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...
. It is northeast of
Bruneau and south of
Mountain Home.
Featuring large sand
dunes and small lakes, the
state park is the site of
North America's tallest single-structured sand dune, which is approximately in height.
The park encompasses and features the Bruneau Dunes Observatory, where visitors can use a
telescope
A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, absorption, or reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally meaning only an optical instrument using lenses, curved mirrors, or a combination of both to observ ...
for
stargazing.
[
]
Natural history
;Geology
The park's dunes are unique in the Western Hemisphere
The Western Hemisphere is the half of the planet Earth that lies west of the prime meridian (which crosses Greenwich, London, United Kingdom) and east of the antimeridian. The other half is called the Eastern Hemisphere. Politically, the te ...
: where others in the Americas form at the edge of a natural basin, the Bruneau dunes form near the center. The basin has acted as a natural trap for over 12,000 years. The dunes may have started with sands from the Bonneville Flood
The Bonneville flood was a catastrophic flooding event in the last ice age, which involved massive amounts of water inundating parts of southern Idaho and eastern Washington along the course of the Snake River. Unlike the Missoula Floods, whic ...
about 15,000 years ago. With prevailing winds blowing from the southeast 28 percent of the time and from the northwest 32 percent of the time, the dunes stay fairly stable, and unlike most dunes, do not drift far.
Park history
Land for the park was purchased under the Recreation and Public Purposes Act in May 1967. Additional acreage was acquired in 1980 and in 1984, bringing the park's total area to .[
]
Recreation
Activities include sandboarding, fishing, birdwatching, camping, hiking, swimming, and viewing the stars at the public observatory. No motorized vehicles are allowed on the dunes but climbing and sledding are permitted. There are and horseback riding trails around the dunes. An educational center offers natural history displays and a gift shop. The astronomical observatory is open Friday and Saturday evenings mid-March through mid-October. Two cabins, 82 RV sites (with water/electricity) and 32 standard sites are available year round in two campgrounds: Eagle Cove Campground and Broken Wheel Campground. An equestrian overnight facility, with corrals, is also available.[ Fishing for bass and bluegill is popular in the park's small lake. Only non-motorized canoes, rafts and float tubes are allowed.
]
See also
* List of Idaho state parks
* National Parks in Idaho
Notes
References
External links
Bruneau Dunes State Park
Idaho Parks and Recreation
Bruneau Dunes State Park Map
Idaho Parks and Recreation
{{authority control
Dunes of the United States
State parks of Idaho
Protected areas of Owyhee County, Idaho
Protected areas established in 1967
Landforms of Owyhee County, Idaho