Killpecker Sand Dunes        By Eric Peterson      airs          1:27 long

Nope, I’m not in the Sahara. You don’t earn frequent flyer miles to dunes get to the the Killpecker Sand Dunes- the largest active dune field in North America! They’re just a few miles outside of Rock Springs, Wyoming.

They offer wildlife habitat, recreational space, and energy exploration possibilities.

The Killpecker dunes total a hundred-nine thousand acres and the dunes can rise up to 150 feet with sharp ridgelines steep enough to really spoil your day if you make the mistake of tumbling off the back of one.

The area certainly is one of the drier places on earth, but the location and high elevation of up to eight thousand feet mean that most of the precipitation that does fall is snow. The snow gets buried by sand and turns into ice. Then in the summer the ice melts and forms ponds between dunes. This interesting phenomenon allows a desert elk herd to inhabit the area.

Plus, there are some significant energy reserves in the area, too! But you can imagine the challenges that come with planning any sort of stationary infrastructure in the shifting sands of the Killpecker Sand Dunes!

From the University of Wyoming Cooperative Extension Service, I’m Eric Peterson.