When you live in a place where winter is not white, you either travel to find the snow, or learn to think outside the box and take up more creative forms of winter recreation . Last year we discovered dune sledding at the coast, and it was a big hit. We can usually count on a few snow days every year when we can sled at home, and we can always travel up to the pass for a snowshoeing excursion, but there is something even more fun in the novelty of dune sledding. During our winter break, while some folks bundled up in coats, hats and mittens to hit the slopes, we peeled off coats and shoes to hit much sandier slopes in our bare feet.
We hiked up one of our favorite dunes near Florence that is set back from the ocean by a stand of pines, and closed off to motor vehicles, making it a very peaceful spot. We also wanted to avoid sledding in the dunes directly adjacent to the beach, to avoid disturbing snowy plover nesting habitat. There are signs up at most beaches, so I consider it a general rule of thumb. The advantage of these dunes being uphill from the shore, is that the wind does quite a job of sculpting them, creating some impressive ridges and valleys that are perfect for sledding.
The steepest of these slopes make for some mighty fine sled runs.
Depending on how damp the sand is, you can actually accumulate a decent amount of speed on the way down.
It really is a lot of fun, and the bonus is you can stay out as long as you want and not get cold. It was 58 degrees when we were out there last week!
Now we can honestly tell people we went sledding over winter break.
We’re resourceful out here in Oregon. We know where to find the fun.
Leave a Reply