Flying down a rocky dirt trail a high speed, letting the suspension absorb every drop and bump with ease is a feeling like no other, compared to your normal truck. So the end of March, my wife’s parents came out to Utah to visit and we rented a Polaris side-by-side to go off-roading in Hurricane, UT! Having visited the area plenty times to go mountain biking, we had no idea a sand dune mountain existed like this. We were able to rip around on the incredible Polaris for hours and hours, and it never got old. Getting to experience long dirt roads, technical desert rock crawling, expansive sand dunes, and even making it down to the lake was hard to beat! Check out the video below and the rest of the story below that.
The plan was to rent a Polaris side-by-side, which is a 4-seat off-road vehicle, that is capable of some incredible off-road abilities. We rented the Polaris from Southern Utah Adventure Center down in Hurricane, UT. The guys at the shop were super helpful, getting us setup up for the day on how to operate the vehicle and the best trails at the Sand Mountain Off Highway Vehicle (OHV) area and the Sand Hollow State Park. Best part was, we could drive straight to the off-roading area on the back roads, and it only took us 15 minutes! With rain over the previous days, we knew we were going to experience some muddy conditions. And we loaded up the rig, packed our extra clothes for the mud, snacks for lunch, all our cameras, and we were ready to go off-roading for the day!
Following the map provided to us, we headed off from the rental shop, through town, past the fancy private community airport, and eventually reached the trailhead where we could finally see what this Polaris XP4 1000 could really do! And it didn’t take long for Courtney’s Dad to open it up, getting us all covered in mud in the process! We cruised along the trail from the East Entrance until we reached the tire junction. From the junction, we started to climb more of the red rocks where the terrain dropped off drastically towards the south. And as we climbed further and further, hoping to reach the Flintstone House and eventually the open sand dune area, we realized the terrain became much more challenging than we expected so we turned back around to reach the dunes another way.
We backtracked to the junction, then took an easier trail that climbed up and over the ridge and into the massively, wide open sand dunes. From here, you could drive your vehicle anywhere you want. You could do donuts in the flats, climb the steep dune walls, or ride the undulating terrain like you were surfing! We eventually made our way up to Sad Moose Rock where we could see a stunning panoramic view of the orange sand that blanketed the ground as far as you could see, with the huge white capped peaks off to the north of town. We watched dirt bikers try their hand at climbing competition hill before we climbed our way up to the Top of the World for a lunch break. Ecstatic about the day so far, we couldn’t help but keep smiling because of how fun that Polaris was to drive.
The day wrapped up by heading down from the Top of the World into the Sand Hollow State Park to drive along the beach that surrounded the Reservoir. Here we opened up the Polaris to see how fast it could go (within reason), and were blown away with how smooth the ride was over the bumpy sand. After we had our fill, we headed South on Sand Dune Way trail that eventually linked us back to the east entrance of the OHV area. And even after 5 hours of riding around and 40 miles later, we were still just as excited as when we pulled out of the shop that morning. The capabilities of those Polaris machines is unmatched by anything you’ll see on the road. The suspension is so long and supple, you really are hard pressed to feel even the biggest of bumps. Not to mention the power of this small vehicle is staggeringly strong! Of course, we barely scratched the surface compared to other groups out in the OHV area that could really push their machines! But hey, we were there to have a good time and I think we accomplished that.
Hi there, my name is Zachary Kenney and I’m an adventure filmmaker & photographer. My passion is to tell stories that will hopefully motivate you to go live a more adventurous life. Whether that is to experience the view from the summit of a mountain, or wandering through a new town on a road trip. Currently based out of Park City, UT.
