Imperial Dunes OHV Overlook, California

The Osborne Overlook is as good a place as any to see the Algodones Sand Dunes, the nation's largest dune field, and the nation's largest off-highway vehicle (OHV) recreational area. Thanksgiving weekend sees as many as 30,000 (some say over 100,000) recreationists at the dunes, which are managed by the BLM. The desert scenes of Star Wars were filmed here. In 2000, almost half the dunes were declared off-limits to OHVs by the BLM, in order to protect the endangered Milk Vetch plant. In 2014 a federal court ruling reduced the size of the protected habitat, while increasing the area allocated to OHV use by 40,000 acres.

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