Samalayuca

Dune Fields

The Samalayuca Dune Fields,

more traditionally known as Los
Médanos (the dunes), or more
recently referenced as Médanos
de Samalayuca are a series of
large but separated fields of sand
dunes located in the northern part
:
 of the Mexican state of Chihuahua.
The dune fields are scattered over
a wide expanse of desert to the
south, southwest and southeast of
Ciudad Juárez. The dune fields are
located in a 2000 km2 area known
as the Samalayuca Desert.[1]

Samalayuca Dune Field

Médanos de Samalayuca

View of the Médanos de Samalayuca

:
 near Samalayuca, Chihuahua.

Highest point
Elevation 3,872 ft (1,180 m)
Coordinates 31°08′24″N
106°54′00″W (ht
tps://geohack.tool
forge.org/geohac
k.php?pagename
=Samalayuca_Du
ne_Fields&param
s=31_08_24_N_
106_54_00_W_t
ype:mountain_re
gion:MX_scale:10
0000)
Geography
:
 Samalayuca
Dune Field

Chihuahuan
Desert, Chihuahua
(state), Mexico
Show map of Mexico
Show map of Chihuahua
Show all
:
 Samalayuca Dune field, 2018. See detail image, below. Scale
bar is 5 km.

Samalayuca dunes detail. Scale bar (lower left) is 1 km.

The Samalayuca Desert and its

dune fields are part of the much
larger Chihuahua Desert region.[2]
:
 The best known portion of the
Samalayuca Dune Fields lie in and
around the village of Samalayuca.
These dune fields are the most
noticeable because they lie across
the much traveled north–south
route between Chihuahua City and
El Paso del Norte (Ciudad Juarez-
El Paso). This portion of the dunes
is also the most dramatic, having
high dune profiles shaped by the
wind in the lee of Cerro de
Samalayuca.
:
 The dunes are composed of almost
pure quartz (SiO2).[2] They are
white or tan in appearance. They
are fine and move with the wind.
The wind has formed the dunes by
carrying sand until it became
deposited and concentrated in
natural land depressions.[2] The
action of the wind continues to
constantly reshape the dunes.
Some of the dunes near
Samalayuca are tall and
dramatically shaped and marked
by the wind.
:
 For centuries the sands of these
dune fields were historically
significant because they lay across
the much traveled north–south
route between Chihuahua City and
"The Pass of the North" at the site
of the border cities of Ciudad
Juárez and El Paso.[3] Before the
era of the modern highway and the
railroad, travel by foot, horse or
oxen across this extended barrier
of some 30 kilometers of loose
sand was laborious and
dangerous,[4] but travelers had the
:
 option of a longer (and thus more
time-consuming) detour around
the east side of the dune fields.

Today the dune fields are

becoming known for their tourist
and recreational potential, and as a
habitat for the many unique
endemic species of plants and
animals living in a rare ecosystem
in the Samalayuca desert. The high
silica content of the sands has also
attracted industrial interest.
:
 Name

Historical name

The sand dune area has

traditionally been referred to as
"Los Médanos" or simply, the
dunes. The name Samalayuca
Dune Fields is of more recent
origin. The name "Los Médanos" is
more commonly used[2] particularly
in historical accounts.[5] Recently
and increasingly the dune fields are
referred by Spanish and non
:
 Spanish speakers as Médanos de
Samalayuca.[6]

Name origin

The field and the desert gets its

name from the town of
Samalayuca, Chihuahua. There are
historic springs in the area, which
accounts for the location of the
town.[7] The town is adjacent to the
dramatic high dunes that lies some
52 km directly south of Ciudad
Juárez just east of Mexico Federal
:
 Highway 45. These high dunes are
formed by the prevailing winds
from the northwest dropping sands
in the lee of Cerro de Samalayuca
(Samalayuca Mountain), which lies
close to Samalayuca village.

Location
The most dramatic portion of the
Samalayuca dune fields lie east
and west of Mexican Federal
Highway 45 and the parallel
Mexican Railway in an area 30 to
:
 60 miles south of Juarez. This
major north south highway and
railroad, between Ciudad Juarez
and the city of Chihuahua crosses
through this dune area, and low
dunes are visible for many
kilometers on each side of the
highway.[2]

The dramatic high dunes that exist

close to the village of Samalayuca
may be seen in the distance from
Federal Highway 45.[2] These dune
fields are formed by the prevailing
:
 wind from the northwest dropping
sand particles in the lee of the
Sierra Samalayuca (Samalayuca
Mountains).

Besides the high dunes appearing

in the area of the village of
Samalayuca, the dune fields lie in
several other areas of the
Samalayuca desert to the
southwest and southeast of
Ciudad Juarez. A lesser known part
of the Salamayuca dune field
extends to the west from
:
 Samalayuca into the area
southwest from Ciudad Juárez.
This area (lying west of Mexico
Federal Highway 45) is larger than
the more dramatic high dune area
near Samalayuca, and comprise
the bulk of the Samalayuca desert
area. These dune fields extend to
the north where they lie across the
(now abandoned) right of way of
the defunct Mexico North Western
Railway (Compañía del Ferrocarril
Nor-Oeste de México) and extend
into the Chihuahua municipality of
:
 Ascension. Smaller dune fields also
extends to the east from the town
of Salamayuca, into the
municipality of Guadalupe.

Chihuahua Trail

Samalayuca Sand Dunes

The Samalayuca Dune fields lie

directly across the main route of
the Chihuahua Trail, part of the
longer route known as El Camino
:
 Real de Tierra Adentro, or the royal
road of the interior. The portion of
this route known as the Chihuahua
Trail went north from Chihuahua
City to Santa Fe, in New Mexico.
From the time the Spanish colonial
city of Santa Fe was founded in
1598 by the Spanish explorer Juan
de Oñate there was steady and
increasing freight and passenger
traffic on this route.

The only major river on the trail was

the Rio Grande. The trail crossed
:
 the river via a ford near the famous
pass between the Juarez and
Franklin mountain ranges. This ford
and pass came to be known simply
as "the Pass" (El Paso) or "The
Pass of the North" (El Paso del
Norte), and a town by the same
name was first established south of
the river, at the site of present-day
Ciudad Juarez. A separate
community also known as El Paso
del Norte, was later established on
the north side of the river in 1849
after the Mexican-U.S. War on
:
 United States Territory. The original
Mexican community of El Paso del
Norte south of the river changed its
name to Ciudad Juarez in
1865.[3][8]

However, in the segment of the

Chihuahua trail from Chihuahua
City and El Paso del Norte, where
the trail reached a point some 45
miles south of the Pass of the
North, the trail encountered a 15-
mile stretch of the Samalayuca
dune fields. The wind shifted and
:
 renewed the deep and finely
gained deep sand beds in these
dunes. The soft shifting sands
made walking through the dune
fields tiring and time-consuming
for animals or people. Horses, oxen,
mules and people could cross this
sandy area only with great
difficulty. The traditional two-
wheeled carts (carreteras) could
become bogged down in the
sands.
:
 Juan de Oñate and
alternative routes

In 1598, Juan de Oñate, a wealthy

Zacatecas nobleman, set out
northward from the Valle de San
Bartolomé, New Spain, to establish
a new northern colony. He
pioneered the Chihuahua Trail
route. When he reached Los
Médanos (the dunes), he
attempted to cross but found the
difficulty so great that he detoured
to the east to go around the area of
:
 sand dunes, before trending north
again to the area where he founded
San Juan, the first capital of New
Mexico.

Oñate's detour set a precedent,

and thereafter an alternative trail
led around the sand dunes near
Salamaluca. South of the dunes the
Chihuahua trail forked at Laguna
de Patos (Duck Lake).[3] The
detour branched off south of the
dunes at Lagunas de Patos and
veered northeast for roughly 60
:
 miles, across the southeastern
margin of the dune fields till it
reached the south bank of the Rio
Grande del Norte.[3] This branch
then turned and followed the Rio
Grande's south bank upstream in a
northwest direction about 60 miles
to The Pass of the North (El Paso
Del Norte), where the two branches
of the trail were again joined. After
El Paso, the trail proceeded through
the pass and on to Santa Fe.[3]

At Laguna de Patos, the main

:
 branch of the Chihuahua Trail
proceeded due north crossing the
dune fields to reach El Paso del
Norte in about 65 miles. In this
distance the trail crossed through
the sandy dunes for a distance of
12 to 15 miles, emerging from the
sand to cross about 30 miles of
desert brush lands to finally reach
El Paso del Norte.

The detour around the dune fields

added some fifty or sixty miles to
the direct route through the dune
:
 fields. To a horseman traveling at
20 miles a day, this could mean a
delay of three days.[7] To a
merchant caravan moving at twelve
miles a day between Ciudad de
Chihuahua and El Paso del North,
this could mean a delay in transit of
five or more days.

Scarcity of water

When traveling the route that led

through the sand dunes near the
village of Samalayuca water was
:
 critical. The only reliable water
sources lay miles to the north and
south of the sand dunes near
Samalayuca. Water supplies near
the dunes were very scarce.[7] To
be significantly delayed in the
Salamayuca Sand Dunes in a dry
year with limited water supplies
could be fatal.

There were springs that flowed

near the present settlement of
Samalayuca on the northern edge
of this stretch of sand.[7][9] As
:
 stated below these springs were
not reliable sources of water for two
reasons.

These springs near Salamalayuca

could be too saline for
consumption. Recent surveys
confirm that three springs exist in
the area of Samalayuca, but the
saline content renders two of them
unfit for drinking. Water for those
currently living in Samalayuca
comes from hand dug shallow
wells.[10]
:
 Travelers in the 1840s reported
that the Ojo de Samalayuca
(Samalayuca Springs) were
seasonal.[11] In the dry season of a
dry year, these springs would cease
to flow, which would leave no water
source on the trail between the
areas of El Paso del Norte in the
north and the village of Carrizal in
the south.

Experiences of travelers in
the 1800s
:
 In order to avoid the delay of
traveling around the dune fields on
the detour, many travelers on the
trail between Chihuahua and El
Paso del Norte elected to go
directly across the dune fields.

From the 1600s though the 1800s

merchants, explorers, soldiers and
the random tourist traveling on the
Chihuahua trail found passage
through the Samalayuca dunes
difficult and dangerous.
Throughout this period of three
:
 centuries the Apache Indians
conducted their off and on guerrilla
war with the encroaching Spanish,
operating out of the Sierra Madre
mountains to the west. They
sporadically attacked and
sometimes laid waste to
hacienda/ranches and small
settlements in the area. As part of
this conflict the Apaches kept
watch over the trail across the
dunes, as well as the water holes in
and around the dunes fields, in
order to rob and kill vulnerable
:
 groups of travelers.[12]

Even as late as 1882 travelers were

"warned to avoid this point [Los
Médanos] of all others while
traveling through Chihuahua", and
to take the alternative route around
the dunes area, though some 60
miles longer, because "This place is
attended by great danger from the
attacks of the Apaches, who well
know the helpless condition of
animals passing and take the
opportunity to attack parties."[5]
:
 While animals and persons found
footing and traction to be difficult in
the loose sands of the dunes, what
was most dreaded was the
difficulty of hauling loaded wagons
or carts through the sand. These
vehicles could bog down to their
hubs.[7] Some merchants going
south from El Paso started out with
carts loaded with goods, but would
hire a mule train to accompany
them. On arrival at the dunes, the
goods from the carts would be
loaded on the mule train and the
:
 emptied carts would then be pulled
over the dunes. On the south side
of the dunes the carts would be
reloaded and proceed.[7]

In 1842 a George W. Kendall made

a diary as he traveled through the
dunes. He was one of a group of
political prisoners, who were
marched down the Chihuahua trail,
guarded by units of the Mexican
army. He observed high
"mountains" of loose sand along
the trail. He noted that horses
:
 would sink in sand to their fetlocks,
and walking in the sand exhausted
men and animals. The two-
wheeled carreteras would bog
down in the sand and to pull them
through this area required doubling
the teams. Kendall also noted a
large stone, weighing some 200
pounds directly in the path through
the dune fields. Over many years
passing gangs of muleteers had
superstitiously adopted the custom
of lifting the stone and moving it
farther along, each gang moving it
:
 a few feet at a time towards Mexico
City. Their recurrent activity,
continuing over many decades
were reported to have moved the
stone some 14 miles.[12]

In 1846 an English soldier of

fortune reported the track through
the dunes littered with skeletons
and dead bodies of oxen, mules
and horses. He reported the sand
to be knee deep, and constantly
shifting. The dunes caused death
to animals and humans. "On one
:
 ridge the upper half of a human
skeleton protruded from the
sand".[12]

Traveling by night avoided the

punishing desert heat during the
summer months, and in 1846 a
German scientist Friedrich Adolph
Wislizenus described such a night
passage through the dunes.
Flashes of lightning illuminated
ghostly images of slow moving
wagons, riders on horseback
wrapped in blankets, and travelers
:
 on foot walking or sleeping beside
the track. Quiet prevailed except for
the cries of muleteers and the
thunder, The winding passage of
the procession through the dunes
was marked with multiple pinpoints
of light from "cigarritos".[7][11][12]

During the Mexican War, Colonel

Alexander William Doniphan led a
force of about 1000 American
soldiers south from El Paso. They
had engaged to guard a merchant
caravan of about 315 heavy
:
 wagons going to Chihuahua City.
They elected to go through the
Salamayuca Sands, rather than
take the detour. After entering the
dune fields, the mules pulling the
heavy wagon train sank to their
knees in the sand, and the wheels
of the wagons buried to the hubs.
With the merchant's wagons
bogged down, men and animals
began to suffer serious debility
from lack of water. The column had
to abandon thousands of pounds
of supplies in order to free the
:
 wagons from the sands, and men
and animals had to join together to
push and pull the wagons forward
out of the dune area. Once past the
dunes, Colonel Doniphan went on
south, and still accompanied by the
wagon train he defeated a Mexican
force at the Battle of the
Sacramento River, thereafter
capturing Chihuahua City.[12]

The Dunes today

:
 Samalayuca Dunes

Today, the original trail (except for

the branch which skirted the
Samalayuca sand dunes) from
Chihuahua, Mexico to El Paso,
Texas lies beneath or beside
Mexico's Federal Highway 45.[3]
Paralleling the highway is a railroad,
now used only to haul freight.

A traveler on Highway 45 passes

:
 over the sandy areas without
difficulty.

Composition and
creation of the dune
fields
The white to tan sands of the dune
fields are almost pure silica. On
average, the sand contains 90-
95% quartz and 5-10% mixed rock
grains.[2]

The particle shapes are nodular

:
 and spheroid. they were formed by
airflow erosion of rocks that
created small fragments that were
then carried away by the wind, to
be deposited in natural land
depressions.[2] Another factor
assisting in the formation of the
dunes is the abrupt changes of
temperature that exist in the desert,
which assisted in the breaking up
of surface rock into sand grains.[2]

Endemic species
:
 In large dune systems, many
species of plants and animals
evolve and adapt to the harsh
environment, and thus become
unique and endemic. The
Samalayuca dunes are no
exception. They provide the habitat
for 248 plant and 154 animal
species, most of them endemic.[2]
The area is therefore biologically
unique on a global scale, and is
receiving greater attention as a
biosphere.[13] Most of the known
endemic species in the
:
 Samalayuca Dunes are plants and
various native bee species.

Industrial interest in the

dune fields
The several million tons of sand in
the Salamayuca dunes can be
considered as an enormous
potential of silica sand since they
are 90 to 95 pure silica (SiO2).
Silica sand is widely used in what is
called "the transforamation
industry", for the making of glass,
:
 silicates, paints, glass-ceramics
and ceramics.[2] The sand of the
Salamayuca dunes has attracted
attention from the ceramic/glass
industry but the desert sand
contains sufficient impurities to
pose problems with its use in
industry, and a process to increase
uniform purity to 97.5% SiO2 would
have to be developed.[2] Because
the sands start with such a high
percentage of silica, such a process
is deemed feasible.[2]
:
 Tourism interest in the
dune fields near
Samalayuca
The dramatic appearance of the
dunes near Samalayuca, visible
from Highway 45, has generated
tourism interest in the dunes. This
includes adventure tourism.
Tourists hike in the dunes, ride over
them in various vehicles, and slide
down the dunes on sand boards.

Government protection
:
 On June 5 of 2009, the Mexican
federal government created a
protected area of 63,182 hectares
(631.82 km2, or 156,126.12 acres)
in Samalayuca dune fields.[2]

Movie setting
The Samalayuca Dunes were used
to film many of the exterior shots in
the 1984 movie Dune.[14][15] The
dunes were also used as a location
for another 1984 film, Conan The
Destroyer.[16]
:
 See also
Juárez Municipality, Chihuahua
Chihuahua (state)
Chihuahuan Desert
Médanos (geology)
Trans-Pecos
Dune (1984 film)

References
1. Sanchez, Esparza-Ponce, Diaz,
Saenz, Boone. "Use of
Samalayuca Dune Sand on Glass
and Ceramics Processes" (http://
:
 americanceramicsociety.org/bull
etin/2007_pdf_files/Sanchez.pdf
) (PDF). American Ceramics
Society|accessdate=21 July
2012. Archived (https://web.arch
ive.org/web/20180225210126/h
ttp://americanceramicsociety.org
/bulletin/2007_pdf_files/Sanchez
.pdf) (PDF) from the original on
25 February 2018. Retrieved
25 July 2012.
2. "Samalayca Dunes declared
natural protected zone" (https://
web.archive.org/web/20140725
010823/http://www.chihuahuanf
rontier.com/state/news/65-samal
ayuca.html) . Chihuahua
:
 ayuca.html) . Chihuahua
Frontier. Archived from the
original (http://www.chihuahuanf
rontier.com/state/news/65-samal
ayuca.html) on 25 July 2014.
Retrieved 21 July 2012.
3. Sharp, Jay W. "Desert Trails -
The Chihuahua Trail" (http://ww
w.desertusa.com/mag03/trails/tr
ails05.html) . DesertUSA.
Archived (https://web.archive.or
g/web/20120508195838/http://
www.desertusa.com/mag03/trail
s/trails05.html) from the original
on 8 May 2012. Retrieved
21 July 2012.
:
 4. Torok, George D. p. 5, at p. 9 "El
Camino Real de Tierra Adentro
through the Pass of the North,
Part 1" (http://www.caminorealca
rta.org/journal/chron_vol5_no2.p
df,) . Vol 5, Number 1, p. 5.
Camino Real de Tierra Adentro
Trail Association, and the El Paso
Historical Society. Retrieved
25 July 2012. {{cite web}}:
Check |url= value (help)
5. Hamilton, Leonidas. "A Complete
Guide to the Border States of
Mexico" (https://www.scribd.com
/doc/36174831/8/Los-
Medanos) . Author self
:
 published, Chicago, 1882.
Archived (https://web.archive.or
g/web/20220717194641/https:/
/www.scribd.com/document/361
74831/1882-Border-States-of-
Mexico) from the original on 17
July 2022. Retrieved 25 July
2012., see P. 143 where the
traveler of 1882 describes "Los
Médanos" and notes the extreme
danger from Apaches that wait to
attack travelers because "they
well know the helpless condition
of animals" struggling through
the sands
6. Jagger, Todd. "Todd Jagger
Photo Gallery - El Camino Real" (
:
 Photo Gallery - El Camino Real" (
http://www.jagger.com/camino.h
tml) . Archived (https://web.archi
ve.org/web/20121116013306/ht
tp://www.jagger.com/camino.htm
l) from the original on 16
November 2012. Retrieved
25 July 2012.
7. Pike, Zebulon, Edited by Elliott
Coues (1895) [1810]. The
Expeditions of Zebulon
Montgomery Pike: Arkansaw
Journey. Mexican Tour (https://ar
chive.org/details/cihm_12060) .
edited and reprinted. New York,
NY, pps, 648 to 652: Francis P.
Harper. ISBN 9780665120602.
:
 Harper. ISBN 9780665120602.
{{cite book}}: |first= has
generic name (help)
8. "El Paso del Norte" (http://www.t
shaonline.org/handbook/online/a
rticles/hdelu) . Texas State
Historical Association. Archived (
https://web.archive.org/web/201
21205040042/http://www.tshao
nline.org/handbook/online/article
s/hdelu) from the original on 5
December 2012. Retrieved
16 December 2012.
9. Sayre, A.N.; Penn Livingston
(1945). "Ground-Water
Resources, El Paso Area, Tex" (ht
tps://books.google.com/books?id
:
 tps://books.google.com/books?id
=PNDUAAAAMAAJ&q=samalayu
ca+springs&pg=RA1-PA4) . U.S.
Departement of Interior. Water
Supply Paper 919: 165, at page
16. Archived (https://web.archive
.org/web/20220717194641/http
s://books.google.com/books?id=
PNDUAAAAMAAJ&q=samalayuc
a+springs&pg=RA1-PA4) from
the original on 2022-07-17.
Retrieved 2020-11-24.
10. Berg, Edgar L. (October 23–25,
1969). "Geology of Sierra De
Samalayuca, Chihuahua, Mexico"
(http://nmgs.nmt.edu/publication
s/guidebooks/downloads/20/20_
:
 s/guidebooks/downloads/20/20_
p0176_p0181.pdf) (PDF). New
Mexico Geological Society
Twentieth Field Conference: 181.
Retrieved 17 December
2012.There are 3 fresh-water
springs with ponds on the
northeast flank of the sierra, but
only the middle one may be used
by strangers without fear of
sickness. Water for the houses in
Samalayuca is taken from hand-
dug wells at the homesites and
almost all of these wells are less
than 15 meters deep. The houses
are built of adobe and of stone
from the sierra.
:
 from the sierra.
11. Wislizenus, F.A. (1848). Memoir
of a tour to Northern Mexico (htt
ps://archive.org/details/mobot31
753000562196) . Washington,
D.C.: Tippin & Streeper.
12. Sletto, Bjor (May–June 1996).
"Two-Way Corridor Through
History" (http://connection.ebsc
ohost.com/c/articles/96052134
01) . Americas. 48 (3): 8.
Retrieved 2012-12-13.
13. Espinal, Dr. Julio A. Lemos.
"Amphibia and Reptiles from the
Medanos of Samalayuca,
Chihuahua, Mexico" (http://www.
conabio.gob.mx/remib_ingles/do
:
 conabio.gob.mx/remib_ingles/do
ctos/anfibios_reptiles_samalayuc
a.html) . Archived (https://web.ar
chive.org/web/2010022711343
9/http://www.conabio.gob.mx/re
mib_ingles/doctos/anfibios_reptil
es_samalayuca.html) from the
original on 27 February 2010.
Retrieved 25 July 2012.
14. "Dune, Behind the Scenes" (http:
//www.duneinfo.com/arrakis/erdr
/) . Archived (https://web.archive
.org/web/20131111120740/http:/
/www.duneinfo.com/arrakis/erdr/
) from the original on 11
November 2013. Retrieved
21 July 2012.
:
 21 July 2012.
15. "Samalayuca Dunes declared
natural protected zone" (https://a
rchive.today/20130119015806/
http://www.chihuahuanfrontier.c
om/state/news/65-samalayuca.h
tml) . Chihuahua Frontier.
Archived from the original (http://
www.chihuahuanfrontier.com/sta
te/news/65-samalayuca.html)
on 19 January 2013. Retrieved
21 July 2012.
16. "Filming Locations for Conan the
Destroyer" (https://www.imdb.co
m/title/tt0087078/locations) .
IMDb. Archived (https://web.arch
ive.org/web/20131006002744/
:
 ive.org/web/20131006002744/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt008
7078/locations) from the
original on 6 October 2013.
Retrieved 21 July 2012.

External links
Photography: Philip Hyde,
Photos of dune fields (http://ww
w.philiphyde.com/index.php#pi=
10000&s=4&p=6&a=0&at=0)
Narrative: The Dunes of
Samalayuca, Jim Conrad (http://
www.earthfoot.org/lit_zone/sala
:
 mayu.htm)
YouTube: Samalayuca Dunes
ATV (https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=Eryvd948p0M)
YouTube: Samayaluca Dunes
Sandboarding (https://www.yout
ube.com/watch?v=Uywl6d7hOT
s&feature=fvsr)
Los médanos de Samalayuca:
reino de arena en
Chihuahua(The Dunes of
Salamalayuca: Kingdom of Sand
in Chihuahua). In Spanish, but
:
 Google computer translator
provided. (http://www.elvocerodi
gital.com/notas2/n2012-07-051
2:47:34.html)

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2023, at 20:33 (UTC). •
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