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Height: ~600 feet
Description: These dunes are the first we visited in southern
California. They are impressively tall and quite beautiful. However,
the crest is a good mile-and-a-half-long hike from the parking area,
and it's not easy going on the sand. It's not so fun when it's hot.
For us, the biggest problem with the Kelso Dunes is that the Park
Service denied us a research permit in the area. The dunes have been
designated a "Wilderness Area", and the 1964 Wilderness Protection Act
prohibits use of electronic devices in wilderness areas. The park
service doesn't seem to have a problem with tourist video cameras or
GPS devices, but when we wrote a formal proposal to study the dunes,
they were reluctant for us to use our tape recorder to record the
booming. Their reasons were nonsensical; among other things, they
claimed that the problem had already been solved and that our research would not benefit the park.
Aahhh!!!
Directions: Take the Kelbaker Road exit off of I-40 26 miles east of Ludlow. Follow the paved two-lane road north until you see a pumping station on the left; the turn-off onto the dirt road leading to the dunes is 100m thereafter. Follow the dirt road for three miles until the parking area, which boasts a nice outhouse. The hike to the dunes is moderately strenuous and about 1 1/2 miles long.
Booming: These dunes boom loudly at their crest.
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