Oregon Dunes National Recreational Area

The Oregon Dunes National Recreational Area is on the coast of Oregon stretching from the Siuslaw river in Florence, OR and runs south for 40 miles to the Coos River in North Bend.  It is part of the Siuslaw National Forest.  The dunes were formed over millions of years from wind, sun and rain erosion on the Oregon coast.  They are the largest expanse of coastal sand dunes in North America.  Some dunes tower up to 492 ft above sea level.  There are several areas in the dunes that can be used for numerous recreation activities.  There are areas designated for Off Road Vehicles including sand roads to get from one area to another.  There are other areas for hiking, fishing, canoeing, horseback riding, camping and beach use.  There are over 30 lakes and ponds in the dunes and several hiking trails.  Author Frank Herbert science fiction novel, "Dune", was based off his research of the Oregon dunes. 
We were in the northern most end of the dunes in Florence in the South Jetty's area.  It had some tall dunes, mostly used for recreation vehicles and then grassy dunes that ran along the Pacific Ocean.  It also runs up to the south side of the Jetty into Florence, OR.  The pass in the jetty looked challenging for boating with huge waves that break into the jetty and big swells inside the jetty.  The beach was huge and strewn with drift wood and pieces of broken shells.  With the surf being as big as it was it made sense that shell hunting is something you don't do in this area.  The dunes were interesting with a lot more life than I expected.  I pictured large sandy dunes and there were some of those but most of the dunes in the area we were at were grass covered.  In the early 1900s a European grass was brought in and planted to stabilize the dunes a bit.  It did and it has allowed a lot of different plant life to exist.  Some of the dunes are turning into wetlands due to the grasses especially around the Jetty area.  It was fun to walk in the dunes and climbing them brought back childhood memories of when I use to play at the Indiana Dunes.  The ocean waves were wild and the surf hitting the jetty rocks were beautiful explosions of water.  We had a lot of fun at the dunes.