Glamis Dunes is a beautiful
a desert landscape, with shifting sand as far as the eye can see.
And on many weekends, it's a place teeming with trucks, motor homes and "toy haulers," filled with quads, dune buggies and sandrails.
But no worries. There's plenty of sand to go around in this part of the world southeast of the salton sea.
"Everybody pours in, has a good time and by sunday everybody is gone," says Bill Jones, chairman of the american sand association and a dune buggy enthusiast who has been traveling to Glamis for 42 of his 55 years. "We create a small city." make that a good-sized city. During the peak season from October through may, as many as 250,000 people come out to play in the sand.
Most visitors camp or park their RVs in washes. Gecko Road offers an asphalt place to camp, while others prefer Wash Road, which parallels the union Pacific railroad tracks and has numbered washes so friends can find each other. it's "dry" camping; there are no hook-ups for water, sewage or electricity.
"It's the ultimate sandbox," says mike Collins of Hemet, who rode his quad in Glamis 16 times last year. "Where else can you go and just keep riding without somebody flagging you down to write you a ticket?" Four years ago, Collins, 47, created an online message and information center for riders, www.dunepeople.com. He posts photos there regularly.
For Jones, Glamis is the ultimate theme park. "it's like riding on a 3-D roller coaster," he says. "The sand creates ridges and folds and you can navigate your way through the ridges. When i'm riding, it feels like i'm dog fighting in a World War ii biplane. You carve your way through the sand."
Barry Clark also is a Glamis regular.
The 38-year-old rides with a group of other off-road enthusiasts who call themselves the Banning Group.
"We all go out and circle the wagons, and we all camp together and have our bonfires, cook and party and enjoy ourselves," says Clark, finance manager for Chaparral Motorsports in San Bernardino.
"We've got a number of different hills we ride to see how fast we can go up.
There is so much terrain to ride, it's (seemingly) endless." Mike Reber and his wife Becky are longtime Glamis fans and quad riders.
"It's the most amazing place in the
whole wide world," Reber says. "One of
the coolest things about it is the landscape.
That's kind of what draws you there —
the dunes — as opposed to desert riding with mud and rocks. The sand is always renewed by the wind so there are
clean dunes." The Lake Elsinore resident belongs
to the American Sand Association's Night Ride group, which visits Glamis in the summer for overnight rides when there
is a full moon. Riders hit the dunes from 10 p.m. until the following morning, when they quit because by 9 a.m. temperatures can reach 110 degrees.
Reber has seen some creative ways visitors stay cool in that kind of heat.
"One time we were camping on Gecko Road and we saw someone pulling a flatbed trailer with a small swimming pool and probably 10 people in it," he says.
Glamis regulars often meet friends at spots called Oldsmobile Hill, Gecko Road or the Drag.
A popular Glamis hangout is Boardmanville, a trading post/restaurant with a bar. Patrons write their names on dollar bills and staple them to the walls
or ceiling. Hundreds of such bills
decorate the walls.
And then there's the Flag Pole, which is nothing more than an old steel container, about 12-by-15 feet long, that the Air Force dropped in the middle of the desert years ago for target practice.
When local businessman Chuck Boardman died, some folks erected a flagpole near the container and installed
a plaque in his honor.
"Every so often a group of veterans go
out there and replaces the flag," Jones says.
"It's just a place where everybody goes
and congregates."
Survival Guide
Rules, regulations and tips for a great Glamis experience • Don't go alone. The Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area is a huge place and if your vehicle breaks down or you get injured, you can get stranded.
• Always carry extra water.
• Pack warm clothes. At night, temperatures can drop into the 40s or lower during
winter months.
• All vehicles must be registered and have
a red or orange safety flag. The flag must be
at least 6-by-12-inches and the mast tip must be
8 feet above the ground.
• All camping spaces are first come, first served, and there is a 14-day camping limit.
• Glass drinking cups, bottles and public nudity are prohibited.
• Target shooting is allowed away from
campgrounds, other people and vehicles.
• Dumping of sewage (black and/or gray water) from an RV is prohibited.
• The nearest hospital in case of an
emergency is Pioneers Memorial Hospital
in Brawley.
• The ISDRA is managed by the Bureau of Land Management field office at 1661 S. 4th St., El Centro CA, 92243; 760-337-4400.
go & do | outdoor adventure
