There's more to duning than riding the dunes. The ISDRA offers many great hiking opportunities. Below are some pictures you may find interesting. GPS coordinates are included if you are interested.

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Below are pix from a hike we did on 11/26/02. There wasn't much hiking involved as we were able to take 4WD directly to the spots. 32.55.49 114.59.53.

Please respect this vital area.
Some of the trees can be as much as 800 years old.

Woodland to East of dunes in open riding area	Other duners and BLM personnel that joined us for the hike		Too dense to even consider walking through
Yes, this is in the OPEN riding areas. Please keep it as is for future visitors	Dune advancing and covering a tree	Opposite: dune receding and uncovering the roots

THE CLOSED WILDERNESS AREA

Below are pix from a pure Wilderness hiking standpoint. If anyone is going to the ISDRA to hike, this is where they should be headed. Pure solitude and not even the slightest hint of an OHV. There are "Guzzlers" throughout the north wilderness area. These pump water for the wildlife that became dependent on the old canal that had dirt banks. When the cement canal was completed they were installed. They are wells that used to be powered by actual windmills but have since been converted to solar power.

We did this hike on 3/02/03. We drove up the road next to the tracks heading north from the Glamis Store. We found a great parking spot at 33.02.99 115.09.18. If you are planning the same hike, it will be just under 6 miles. You will traverse some low dunes here and there but nothing too difficult. It was a fairly cool day and we consumed only about 1.5 liters each.

Your first destination is Guzzler #1 at 33.01.09 115.10.59

Huge tree you will see on your way in	Eerie remains - we left it right as we found it		Storage tank at Guzzler #1 - all are the same
Water trough fed by pipe system		Guzzler #2 at 33.02.86 1154.11.00
Tons of these in bloom	Dense woodland on way to Guzzler #3
Note orange tint in center of pic - that is 1000's of orange flowers	Panoramic view (sort of) from top of dune by Guzzler #3 at 33.03.36 115.11.84 guzzler is to left of tree in right pic and fellow hikers are to right of tree
lots of wild flowers The hike itself took about 5 hours. We took several breaks and other times just stood in awe of many of the outstanding sights. I highly recommend it and would do it again - VJB

HOT SPRINGS

Below are pictures of a natural geothermal spring or hot spring West of the dunes. The water is about body temperature.

You can ride to it if you are so inclined but are better off to take your car. The road in is pretty rough in some spots though. We didn't need 4WD but could see at other times you might.

The spring is about 1.5 miles south of 78 just before you get to the East Highline canal heading toward Brawley from the dunes. 78 makes a gentle left turn where there's a sort of a "Y" in the road - if you went right, you'd be on the dirt part of the "Y". That is how you know if you've gone too far. The road is not marked so it's hard to tell you exactly how to get there. Heading towards the dunes, its the 3rd dirt road past the canal on your right just after the gentle right turn. It IS NOT Whitlock road: the next one. You know you're on the right road if you see closed area markers on your left.

There's a fair amount of trash here. Someone tried to burn the trees at some point in the near past as evidenced by the black scorch marks. Please leave it better than you find it.