If you are looking for a place to play on your ATV to your heart’s content this is the place for you.

Access

Located between Delta and Eureka on Highway 6 in Juab County you can get there by going south (or north) on I15 to Santaquin.  From Santaquin you go west on highway 6 passing through the lovely little boroughs of Genola, Elberta, Dividend and Eureka.  Go about 15 miles farther south to “Jerico Junction” and make a right.  Follow the signs provided by the BLM and you are there.  When you reach the park you will be greeted by a BLM officer who will request your recreation use fee.

Trailhead

This site has three improved camping areas where you can camp overnight and have the luxury of improved rest room facilities.     As you enter the area you will be privileged to purchase a whip flag to anchor to your ATV for the mere cost of $12.00 each (proceeds reportedly to go to the continued improvement of the area).  If you are smart you will bring a whip flag along and save the inflated price.  The purchase of the whip flag is not optional.  If you don't have one, you buy one or you won't get in.  This fee is in addition to your daily use fee or your overnight camping fee.  Whip Flags must be at least 6 feet in length and motorcycles as well as ATV's are required to use them.

Trail

The Little Sarah Recreation area one of a few in Utah that  is totally devoted to the OHV recreational sport.   This is most likely of necessity.  I was first there in the mid sixties.  At that time there were no designated camping areas, no camp rangers, no substantial roads, no rest rooms, no facilities what-so-ever.  The name was not even the same.  At that time it was simply known as Jerico Sand Dunes.   Even then it was a popular spot for, hundreds of motorcyclists and dune buggies ripping their way through the dunes like the devil himself were at their tail.   Providence, and the government likely decided to bring a little order to the area in order to avoid the liability of injuries that were common place, even back then.

There are no actual designated trails to ride at Jerico.  The whole of it is one big designated riding area.  It will take only moments after you reach the dunes that you are suddenly thankful that you have a whip flag on your machine to make you visible to your fellow recreationalists as they come at you from every direction.  While common sense is the dictator of speed at the location, it is obvious that some have very little of it and thus you may find some (motorcyclists primarily) who will scream past you at full throttle.  Before you get big headed, these speed demons are not limited to the two wheel variety.  There are plenty of souped up 4 wheelers out there and the occasional dune buggy that will rip past you on their way to a non existent fire.

So, okay, you've discovered my personal preference to trail riding at low speeds.  I admit it; I am an ATV tourist.  I have no interest in setting any world records for speed, distance or air time on my ATV.  I try to respect the rights of those who have such desires, but it is not for me and I hope not for the rest of my house.  Those pursuits are much more likely to run the risk of injury to the riders and damage to the machines.  I value each, so I prefer a more modest and conservative approach.  Nonetheless I still have a wonderful time at Jerico .
My most recent visit to Jerico was in the Spring and it was perfectly lovely out there then.  I understand that during the summer the heat can be somewhat stifling.  There are signs that give warning of the presence of our  slithering friends, rattlesnakes.  Do take extra care in the rest rooms, as they sometimes will prefer those cooler locations to the underside of a rock, which are rare at Jerico.

The designated recreation area is about 12 Miles long (North to South) and 10 Miles wide (East to West) It is not a perfect square.

Warning:

Easter Weekend is the most popular weekend of the year at Little Sahara.  Last year, (2002) it was reported that more than 20,000 people chose that location for their recreation area.  There are several sand dune areas in the state.  If you must go to a sand dune I would recommend that you try one other than the Little Sahara.  The more people who recreate in this area at the same time the greater the likelihood of serious injury including death.

Rodent Wranglers?

Now here's an interesting news item.  It was reported in the Salt Lake Tribune in May or June of 2001 (sorry, but I didn't clip the article) that there are two “scientists” from the University of Utah who have recently theorized that the spread of the Hontavirus can be attributed to the use of ATVs in the desert, the natural home of the deer mice that are known carriers.

According to these scientists they have found a higher than normal presence of the Hontavirus in mice and rats in the Tintic Mountains area.  They attribute this to the theory that these mice have populated in higher densities because they have been frightened by ATVs in the nearby Sand Dune recreation area.

They may be able to determine scientifically the existence of Hontavirus in mice and rats, but I wonder if they have ever scientifically determined the distance that a mouse or a rat is scared when approached by an ATV.  It would seem to me that the fright factor might account for a distance of perhaps ten yards.  This would be a reasonable mean distance of a flight due to fear from an Approaching ATV.  The direction of escape would be random in any one instance of fright.  Even in instances where high numbers of ATVs and OHVs are in the immdiate area, the fright factor would still remain constantly random and completely unsuccessful in determining any particular direction.

Now, also consider the fact that the West Tintic Mountains, the home of the high populations of Huntavirus infected mouse species, is no less than 10 actual miles from the Little Sahara Recreation area.  Therefore the possibility of vermin being “herded” into a higher population by traversing ATV would be difficult to rationally prove.

I think these good “scientists” had better study the attributes of a frightened mouse in the desert, before they make any conclusion on how these higher populations occurred.  I do not question their ability to detect the Huntavirus disease in mice.  I'm sure they are more than qualified to make such a diagnosis.  However, chances are better than not, that the primary reason for greater population of rats and mice in the Tintic Mountains has nothing to do with ATVs and everything to do with the available of preferred food choices of mice and rats.

It would appear that our scientific minds have been unduely influenced by the fable of the pied piper in their youth.  I might point out that even the fictional  Pied Piper could not heard or frighten the rats from the village, it was only through the enticement of music, that both the rats and children followed him out of the town.

Save Rockwell Dunes?

This area has been identified by the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) as  a target for closure, and legislation has been drafted to close this and many other areas as a part of the Red rock Wilderness Act.  This organization has rather cleverly renamed the area "Rockwell Dunes" as a means of distracting people from defending their most popular motorized recreation area in the State of Utah.

If you would rather not use this area for OHV recreation, then be sure and do nothing.  The wealthy SUWA has all the resources they need to lobby congress to eventually get this bill passed and this area will be closed.  If you don't believe a word you are seeing here, please visit the SUWA web site.  It will be identified as "Rockwell Dunes".  When you carefully study the location of these dunes you will realize that they are talking about our Little Sahara Recreation Area.

This is one of the areas that is believed to suffer from "recreation fatigue".  Personally, I fail to see how this area is "fatigued".  Each new wind storm erases almost all evidence of there having been any human presence in the area. The plant life in this area is, of necessity of being in a desert and competing with a sand dune, of the hearty variety, or not long for this world, by a matter of natural selection.  The only evidence of mankind that you will find after a brisk storm will be the tennis shoes that were inadvertantly left behind and covered by a previous storm.   People live on this planet, they should have the right to recreate on it, in a responsible manner, on publically owned lands.  What happens on private lands should and will be determined by the landowner.

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