FLORENCE, ORE. -- Most visitors to Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area are into "four-wheeling," a uniquely American pastime that involves tearing through the 15,000-hectare stretch of protected sand aboard ATVs, motorcycles, dune buggies or another brand of off-road vehicle.
Our vehicle is a Volkswagen Vanagon packed to the tailpipe with camping gear. Being Canadian and descendent of a slightly less vehicular lineage, we are heading to the 60-kilometre stretch of dunes to partake in an equally insane, albeit quieter, activity known as sandboarding. Imagine snowboarding in the desert and you get the picture. At least, that's the picture we have, though none of us has actually done it.
In Florence, the town just north of Oregon Dunes (officially part of Siuslaw National Forest), we plan to meet up with Lon Beale, better known as Dr. Dune, proprietor of Sandmaster Park, the world's first sandboarding park. As a pioneer of the sport, he's stoked to introduce some Canucks to the fun -- or so he tells me over the phone.
At the moment, however, Phil Collins is on the radio -- again -- and we're rolling down Highway 101, a windy two-laner that hugs the Pacific coast. Between communities of old-style diners and ramshackle surf shops, we catch our first glimpses of the Beaver State's unspoiled coastline. Open beaches with sharp, volcanic outcrops give way to surf-battered inlets. Along the roadside, coastal pine trees hint at the relentless onshore winds, their branches twisted and gnarled into contorted sculptures.
Eventually, the "Fresh Fish" signs along the highway get the better of us and we pull over at the Lighthouse Deli, a quirky joint just south of Newport. The deli is a local favourite, and a lunch of freshly steamed Dungeness crab dipped in garlic butter explains why. As we snap a photo outside, Scott, the gregarious counter person, points to the huge aluminum spaceship on the roof. "It's to show that we welcome all tourists," he says with a bearded grin.
Next stop: Sutton Creek Campground, a state-run facility three kilometres north of Florence that serves as our base for the weekend. Running water and flush toilets provide the comforts of home, and even on a busy weekend we have no trouble finding a secluded grassy site backed by a stream. With only six RV pull-throughs out of 80 sites, the campground is unusually tranquil, with no 6 a.m. generators or RV doors slamming.
We set up camp and head to Sandmaster Park to meet up with Beale. His mustachioed hockey-dad figure belies his dude-speak telephone persona, but he truly does seem stoked to have us. After the requisite signing of the waiver and a short lesson in waxing (rub wax on the bottom after each descent), we're ready to ride.
The park consists of a pro shop and 16 hectares of toboggan-hill-scale dunes -- more impressive for their vastness than their vertical. It's not quite the Whistler of sandboarding we had envisioned, but is nonetheless intimidating enough for our first go. Because the dunes are privately owned, access is restricted to boarders only, which seriously reduces the chances of decapitation by dune buggy.
The boards vary in size from skateboard-sized planks to full-blown snowboards with Formica bases designed for sliding on sand. Feet are strapped in with either a snowboard binding, requiring boots, or a water ski-type contraption that allows for barefoot riding. Less than keen to strap boots on in the summer heat, we opt for the latter.
The first rule of sandboarding is this: Keep your mouth shut if you fall. Otherwise, the riding is relatively straightforward. Stand up, lean back, bend your legs and point the board downhill.
Much to our relief, a few aborted test runs reveal that wiping out on sand is not the painful human belt-sander experience we were anticipating. Within a couple of hours, we're tackling the park's steepest slopes. We leave the jumps and rail slides, however, to the local kids, who seem a lot more rubbery than us.
The short runs and tiring uphill hikes lose their appeal after a while, and we start to long for more substantial terrain than the gentle dunes at the park. The steepest and longest runs, we find out, are actually almost five kilometres south of town in Jessie M. Honeyman State Park. The next morning, we stop by the pro shop, rent a few boards, and head for Honeyman.
The hills are indeed much longer -- imagine two toboggan hills stacked together -- and more varied. But with each ride only lasting a few seconds and the uphill slog now that much harder, we soon abandon the boards to explore the park on foot. After a 20-minute walk that reminds us why people expire in the desert, we arrive at the base of the largest dune in sight. With the wind howling in our ears, we make our way up the ridgeline of the 50-metre mound.
From the top, we look out over an expanse of pale, corrugated dunes, the ocean barely visible on the horizon above the haze. Then, we run and jump wildly down the steep sides of the dune. Halfway back to the parking lot, we look back and see that our footprints have almost been erased by the wind.
The dunes at Honeyman are closed to off-roaders, but the faint buzz of distant two-stroke engines and the occasional shape of a dune buggy speeding across the horizon is a constant reminder of the predominant recreational activity here. Yet as we walk across the dunes, I realize that the fixation with motorized recreation is actually a blessing in disguise: It leaves the non-mechanized areas of the coast to those of us willing to use our feet -- and our sandboards -- for transportation.
GETTING THERE
Portland International Airport is Oregon's main air transportation hub. Sandmaster Park is located on Highway 101 at the north end of Florence, Ore., about 260 kilometres south of Portland.
You can reach Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area by continuing south on Highway 101.
THINGS TO DO
Sandmaster Park: phone: (541) 997-6006; or visit the Web site at http://www.sandmasterpark.com.
Board rental is $15 a day, including a park pass. Sandboarding season in the park runs from May until October.
WHERE TO STAY
Sutton Creek Campground: phone: (541) 902-8526. Tent sites are $24 a night per car.
WHERE TO EAT AND DRINK
The Lighthouse Deli: 3640 Southwest Coast Hwy., South Beach, Ore.; phone: (541) 867-6800 or (800) 834-1322; or visit the Web site at http://www.lighthousedeli.com.
INFORMATION
Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area: phone: (541) 750-7000; Web: http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/siuslaw.
