How-To Dune Tips - Vehicles
Vehicles: - Part of the fun on the dunes is observing the variety of vehicles ingenious duners have concocted for riding the dunes. From modified school buses to alien-looking sports cars, vehicles must meet rules and regulations for occupant safety, noise, and spark arrestors. Irony prevails on the dunes where a highly-lifted, fully-blown Jeep sticks high-centered atop a dune while a showroom-new stock all-wheel-drive (AWD) Subaru family station wagon with half the clearance effortlessly climbs and descends past the Jeep without so much as an engine whine. Off-road vehicles found on the dunes range from MX motorcycles, quads, ATVs, UTVs, dune buggies, sand rails, pick-up trucks, SUVs, all-wheel-drive cars/wagons/vans, and of course Jeeps. At Michigan's Silver Lake Sand Dunes, 'Dune Ready' vehicles are road-legal vehicles driving directly onto the dunes after passing check-point authorities enforcing flag, noise, occupant-safety, and permit regulations. Non-road-legal vehicles may be trailered or towed into the parking lot just outside the entrance to the dunes for preparation entering and riding onto the dunes. Passengers must wear helmets if vehicle roll cages do not entirely protect occupants from roll-overs. This may affect certain buggies and possibly older or modified pickups and or Jeeps with rear passengers not fully protected by roll cages. All occupants in rails, buggies, SUVs, trucks, and Jeeps must be wearing seatbelts.
