LITTLE SAHARA GUIDE
Beyond the throttle
Sandboarding, fat biking, motor-free play areas for kids, and 9,000 acres where no vehicle is allowed at all.
- Sandboarding and sand skiing
- Fat biking
- The children's play areas
- Hiking the Rockwell Wilderness Study Area
- Photography
- Building a mixed-group day
Sandboarding and sand skiing
Sand Mountain's slopes are the draw. Bring a board, expect a hike back up, and go early before the surface heats.
Fat biking
Wide tires float on soft sand where a regular mountain bike just digs in. BLM specifically calls out fat biking as an established activity here. Safest in the less crowded dune areas or in Rockwell's quiet zones.
The children's play areas
Two of Utah's largest sand play areas sit near White Sands Campground and the Jericho Picnic Area. They are motor-free environments built for digging and building. Supervise children at all times, and do not let anyone tunnel, because collapse is a real and prohibited danger.
- Located near White Sands Campground and Jericho Picnic Area
- Motorized vehicles are never allowed inside
- Fences shift as sand moves, so the boundary may not be where it was
- No tunneling or deep pits
Hiking the Rockwell Wilderness Study Area
9,000 vehicle-free acres of rolling dunes, scattered Utah junipers, sagebrush, and native grasses. This is the place for hiking, birdwatching, and photography, and the only part of Little Sahara that is genuinely quiet.
Photography
The dune field photographs best at the edges of the day, when low light rakes across the ridges. Rockwell gives you foreground juniper and no machine tracks.
Building a mixed-group day
One rider goes to Sand Mountain in the morning. Non-riders take the play areas or a Rockwell walk while it is cool. Everyone regroups at camp through the hot middle of the day, and the whole group rides gentler White Sands terrain in the evening.
BLM Little Sahara Recreation Area · Utah Division of Outdoor Recreation
435-433-5960 · BLM Fillmore Field Office