The dunes Kanab
Twenty five minutes southwest
Coral Pink Sand Dunes.
A state park of rose colored sand in a bowl between pine ridges, most of it open to riding, part of it closed since 1997 to protect a beetle that lives here and on no other ground on earth. Here is how to use it, when to go, and what the closure actually means.
By Scott Buehler, Kanab local
Updated September 2026
The short answer
Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park is a field of rose colored sand about twenty miles southwest of Kanab, roughly twenty five minutes by car off US-89, set in a bowl between ridges of ponderosa pine. Most of the dune field is open to off highway vehicles, sandboarding and plain walking, while a core section has been closed since 1997 to protect a tiger beetle that lives here and on no other ground on earth. People come out to ride, to slide the sand, to camp, or just to watch the low evening sun turn the whole field pink.
The place itself
A dune field between the pine ridges.
The sand really is the color of the name, and it is at its best in the last hour of daylight, when the low sun turns the whole field rose. Between visits the wind rearranges everything, so footprints and tracks are gone by the next morning, which is part of why the place keeps being worth going back to.
The character out here is open riding. More than 1,500 acres of sand, across the park and the neighboring public land, are open to off highway vehicles, and on a good weekend you will see side by sides, four wheelers, sandboards, and families who have driven out from town for the evening. If you want silence, this is not the state park for it. If you want the local sand culture, this is exactly it.
You do not need a machine to get something out of it, though. Walking the dunes and sliding down them costs nothing past the entry fee, and the park is open daylight hours every day of the year.
Coral Pink Sand Dunes at a glance
~25 min
southwest of Kanab
1,500+ acres
open sand to ride
1997
core habitat closed
Year round
the campground stays open
On the sand
Riding, sliding, or just walking it.
The main event is the open riding. More than 1,500 acres of sand, across the state park and the neighboring public land, are open to off highway vehicles, and that is what most people drive out here for. If you already have a side by side or a four wheeler, this is one of the better places in the region to use it. If you are renting, Kanab has outfitters who will set you up before you leave town.
Sandboarding is the low cost version of the same idea. You rent a board in Kanab, carry it up a dune, and slide down. The sand is soft and the rides are short, which is the honest description of dune boarding anywhere, but kids love it and it costs almost nothing. Plain walking works too. The dunes are big enough to wander for an hour, and the shapes are different every time the wind blows.
One practical note that catches people out. The sand gets seriously hot in summer, hot enough that midday in July is hard on bare feet and worse on a dog. Early morning and the last hours of light are cooler, and they are also when the dunes look their best.
The part most visitors miss
A beetle that lives here and nowhere else.
The Coral Pink Sand Dunes tiger beetle lives on this dune field and on no other ground on earth. It is about the size of a sunflower seed, ivory backed with a green and bronze shine in the right light, and its entire world is a few hundred acres of sand southwest of Kanab.
That is why the dunes are not all open ground. Core habitat has been closed to vehicles since 1997, a couple hundred acres inside the park and a few hundred more on the neighboring public land, under an agreement between the state, the county and federal land managers. The closure is posted, and the rest of the field stays open to riding, which is a genuinely unusual arrangement: a working off road area and a protected habitat sharing one dune system.
Utah's rare insect program has surveyed the population out here for decades. It is a small thing that gives the place more character than a plain dune field would have, and it is the reason to read the signs rather than assume the sand is all yours.
An off road park and the only home of a species, sharing the same sand. Reading the closure signs is the whole deal.
Getting there and getting in
The drive, the fee, and the hours.
From Kanab you head out on US-89 and follow the signs west to the park, about twenty miles and twenty five minutes all in. It is paved the whole way, so any car will reach the day use lot and the campground. The washboard dirt only starts if you go looking for the backways beyond the park.
There is a state park day use fee charged per vehicle, with a reduced rate for Utah seniors. The fee moves over time, so check the park itself rather than trust a number printed somewhere else. The gate is open daylight hours, seven days a week, every day of the year.
The details
Staying out there
Camping, and the season.
The campground has hot showers and flush toilets, which puts it well ahead of most desert camping in this corner of the state. Most of the sites are dry, and a smaller number have water and power. The campground stays open year round.
Reservations open on a rolling window several months ahead through the state parks system, and the good weekends go. Spring and fall are the busy seasons for obvious reasons. Winter camping out here is cold and quiet and, if you are equipped for it, one of the better nights available near Kanab.
The season shapes the day more than it shapes the year. Spring and fall are comfortable through the middle of the day. Summer pushes everything to the early morning and the evening. Winter is entirely usable, with firm sand and nobody around.
Book the campground, not the day visit. Camping is reserved in advance and the popular dates fill. Coming for the day needs no reservation at all: turn up, pay the vehicle fee, and go.
Scott Buehler
Moving Utah About Scott
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Read the pageQuick answers
The dunes, answered.
About twenty miles southwest of town, which is roughly twenty five minutes by car off US-89. It is close enough that plenty of people who live in Kanab treat it as an evening run rather than a full day trip.
Yes. Most of the dune field is open to off highway vehicles, and that open riding is a big part of what the park is. One core section has been closed to vehicles since 1997 and is posted, so the rule is to read the signs rather than assume the whole field is fair game.
Yes, a state park day use fee charged per vehicle, with a reduced rate for Utah seniors. The fee changes over time, so treat the park itself as the source rather than any figure printed elsewhere.
Not for a day visit. You turn up, pay the day use fee, and go. Camping is different: the campground is reserved in advance on a rolling window that opens several months out, and the good dates fill.
A small beetle, about the size of a sunflower seed, that lives on this dune field and on no other ground on earth. Its core habitat has been closed to vehicles since 1997, a couple hundred acres inside the park and a few hundred more on neighboring public land, and Utah's rare insect program has surveyed the population here for decades.
Yes. A core section is set aside as a conservation area, largely for the tiger beetle found here and nowhere else. The rest is open to off highway use, and the boundaries are posted on the ground.
Spring and fall are comfortable all day. In summer the sand gets very hot, so the sensible windows are early morning and evening, which is also when the low sun turns the dunes the color they are named for. Winter is cold, quiet and entirely usable.
Yes. Boards rent in Kanab rather than at the dunes themselves. The sand is soft and the rides are short, which is the honest description of dune boarding anywhere.
Yes, a state park campground with hot showers and flush toilets, open year round. It is reserved separately from day use on a rolling window several months ahead, and cool season weekends and holidays go first.
Twenty five minutes southwest, and the sand turns pink.
The evening run out to the dunes is one of those things that sounds like a vacation and turns out to be a Tuesday. If you are weighing what daily life in Kanab is actually like, that is the kind of detail worth talking through. I live and work down here, so ask me anything.
Or call me: (435) 357-4345or send me a message
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