Contrary to popular belief there is actually quite a bit to do in Idaho. We have been to Idaho a few times and last summer we got to go to Bruneau Dunes State Park for our first time sandboarding and sand sledding.

How to Get to the Bruneau Dunes

The Bruneau Dunes State Park is located in the southwest part of Idaho. It is not close to any big towns. You do have to basically come through Boise or Twin Falls to get there. From Boise it will take about an hour. From Twin Falls it will be a little longer, about an hour and a half.

Since we were coming from Utah we stayed in Twin Falls and drove out to the Sand Dunes in the morning. From there you travel north and east on I-84 until you reach Exit 114. Here you will go through the little town of Hammett. In Hammett you get on Highway 78. Stay on 78 until you see the signs for Bruneau Dunes State Park, which will direct you onto Bruneau Sand Dunes Road.

Coming from Boise is the same except that you are heading south and west on I-84 until you reach Exit 114.

What You Will Do at the Bruneau Dunes

The main attraction of this state park is obviously the giant sand dunes that are here. But, when you first come in to the park you will see a small visitor center. You should stop here first. There are a few small displays in the center and a little gift shop. The main reason to stop here though is to rent sandboards and sand sleds.

Sandboards and sand sleds cost $15 a day (significantly cheaper than at Coral Pink Sand Dunes). Renting these will make it a lot more fun to be out on the dunes. Hiking through sand can be pretty difficult, but it is a lot more fun if you know you are going to whoosh down from the top. Sand sleds are great for little and big children. Sandboards are good if you are in for an adventure and don’t mind crashing a few times.

You will need to drive from the visitor center down past the two campgrounds and around to the big dunes. Like most dunes there are not defined hikes here, you just park and start walking. We chose to only hike up the smaller of the big dunes since we were not ready to try coming down the huge dune.

We really enjoyed doing the sandboarding and sledding. You climb to the top of a dune or sand ridge, wax your board or sled, and the come hurtling down the side. Lucy also loves to play in the sand, so we had brought her shovel and bucket.

In addition to the sand dunes there is also a picnic area and small lake at the end of the road. We enjoyed having our lunch there. You can do water activities in the lake if you bring your equipment.

Things to Know

• Sand gets very hot in the summer time. The earlier you go the more time you will have on the dunes before they are too hot.
• Wear sandals. The sand is going to get too hot to walk on barefoot and you do not want to wear shoes in the sand.
• Rent sleds and boards. Unless you have your own specifically for sand. Snow sleds and boards you bring from home do not work very well.
• Don’t forget your sand toys. It will be a lot more fun for small children if they have something to dig with when they aren’t on the sled.
• Get a beach blanket. This makes it so much better to be out on the sand.
• Use a GoPro or other action camera so you don’t get sand in your main camera or phone.
• Bring plenty of water. Like we said, it gets hot out there!

Sum Up

Bruneau Dunes State Park is really fun. It is exhausting work climbing up dunes and then sledding down them, so we only spent about half a day here, but it was a lot of fun. The park was not crowded when we were there and the dunes are so big that there is plenty of space for everyone.

We have a video that can show you more: