Last updated: August 27, 2021
Thing to Do
Drive to the Salt Basin Dunes

NPS photo
The dune landscape is geologically young. It developed over the past few thousand years as dissolved salts and gypsum from an adjacent lake bed were deposited by wind into ever changing sculpted hill, swale, and ripple formations. The mesquite coppice dunes form stabilized spots where wildlife abounds.
The dunes environment is home to gypsum-loving plant and animal life such as gypsum scalebroom, a white variant of the lesser earless spiny lizard, and five of the park’s seven species of scorpions.
Visitors are allowed to hike over the open dunes, but are encouraged to avoid walking on the fragile biological soil crusts. Visitors may also hike on abandoned ranch road traces and discover windmills and other historic remnants of the past. Temperatures in the dunes area are generally mild in the winter and dangerously hot in the summer.
From the Pine Springs Visitor Center, turn right on Highway 62/180 and drive west for 23 miles. At Salt Flat, turn right on FM road 1576. Drive north 17 miles then turn right on Wiiliam's Road. Travel 7.5 miles East to the parking area. From the trailhead, you will still need to hike about 1 mile. Follow the trail that takes you to the dunes.
Pay close attention to your route when leaving the dunes. Following the wrong road will lead you away from your vehicle and further into the desert. The surface of the access road is clay. During rainy weather, the road becomes dangerously slippery; it is unsafe to travel when wet. The speed limit is 25 miles per hour. Watch for livestock on the roadway.