Dunefest
Oregon Dunes National Recreational Area
Winchester Bay, OR
July 26th – 30th

Off road enthusiasts from up and down the west coast and its surrounding states headed to the sand dunes in Winchester Bay, Oregon for one of the biggest off road events in the northwest, Dunefest.  Hosted by the Reedsport / Winchester Bay Chamber of Commerce, the annual event took place July 26th through the 30th in the Oregon Dunes National Recreational Area with attendance in the thousands.  The largest expanse of coastal dunes in North America, the Oregon Dunes National Recreational Area is known as the ATV and dune buggy capital of the Pacific coast. It stretches approximately 40 miles along the Oregon coast from the Coos River in North Bend, to the Siuslaw River in Florence with sand dunes as high as 500 feet above sea level.

There’s no shortage of fun at Dunefest, aside from the thrill of riding in the vast sand dunes the event boasts a ton of scheduled activates and entertainment for the entire family, including sand drags, a moto-x track, demo rides, a show and shine, a poker run, night rides, treasure hunts and live music.

This year at the Interstate Batteries Main Stage not only was there live music each night but there was a WGAS Freestyle show each day, attendees gathered around to watch some amazing ATV and dirt bike stunts performed by professional riders. 

Vendor row was packed full of great aftermarket UTV product companies like Rugged Radios, SSV Works, ZBroz Racing, Rockford Fosgate and PRP Seats displaying their latest products and interacting with fans and customers. There were plenty of food vendors as well offering up some really delicious snacks and meals and Monster Energy was present handing out a variety of energy drinks so you could get recharged and back to riding.

OEMs Yamaha and event title sponsor Can-Am Offroad were also present each with a fleet of machines offing demo rides to attendees. Free of charge, attendees could sign up to drive the new Maverick X3 and the Yamaha YXZ 1000 R for a wild ride in the sand where these machines were designed to shine.

Dunfest also had the Barnyard Toyz Drag Strip where attendees could sign up to race their sand rail, ATV or side by side to go head to head for the fastest time.

Quadcross Northwest laid out a really cool Moto-X race track in the sand, attendees had the opportunity to take a few practice laps as well as sign up and compete in a full blown UTV race. We got to get close to the action for each heat and the final race, UTV drivers took this battle serious keeping spectators on the edge of their seats, the race was so hardcore we even captured some carnage on film as one UTV slammed in the back of another ripping off a rear fender as well as a few rollovers, one of which even had an exhaust fire. We were all happy to see that no one was injured in this epic battle for the win.

There was plenty of area to camp around the event, not only did many RVs fill up the event campsites you could also purchase a permit to camp right on the dunes. The designated areas just before the big dunes filled out with tons of RVs and primitive campers.

All in all, Dunefest 2017 was an epic event. Oregon is a beautiful state full of awesome scenery, great people and the sand dunes offers a thrilling experience you’ll never forget. We highly recommend putting Dunefest 2018 on your schedule.

For more information on Dunefest visit www.dunefest.com

BIG THANKS to Riding Dirty ATV rentals, the official ATV and UTV rental company of Dunefest, for hooking us up with a side by side. www.ridindirtyrentals.com