Your first ride

Do these four things in the staging area

Not on the sand, not once you are moving, and definitely not once you are stuck. The staging area exists so you can get the vehicle ready while you are still on solid ground, and the people who skip it are the ones providing the entertainment ten minutes later.

• Air down to roughly 12 to 15 PSI. A wider footprint is the whole trick to floating on soft sand
• Engage four-wheel drive now. Switching once you are buried rarely helps
• Mount the orange flag so it stands 10 feet above the ground
• Clear the flag and noise check station, because 94 decibels is measured rather than assumed

Then do a slow lap before anything else

The sand is different today than it was yesterday, and different this afternoon than it was this morning. Wind and moisture reshape the surface constantly, so the first thing to do is find out what you are actually driving on before you ask anything of it.

This is what the local S.A.N.D. framework is for, and it is worth running on every entry rather than only your first.

• Stop and think. Check the map and have a plan before you are already moving
• Assess the situation. Weather and wind change the dunes daily, sometimes hourly
• Note your surroundings. You are sharing 450 acres with everything from dirt bikes to full-size trucks
• Drive safely. The dunes reward respect, and this is not a race

You cannot see over a crest. Ever.

This is the single most important thing to internalise, and it is structural rather than occasional. From the near side of a dune you cannot see the far side. What is over there might be a drop steeper than the climb, a parked group, a rider coming the other way, or standing water.

Approach every crest slowly enough to stop at the top. Come at it on an angle where you can. Never crest at full throttle, however good the sand feels on the way up.

Know which lake you are next to

Silver Lake is on one side of the dune field and Lake Michigan is on the other, and vehicles are not permitted at the water's edge on either. Open sand disorients people faster than they expect, particularly in flat midday light when the dunes lose their shadows and everything looks the same.

Pick a landmark before you start and check it regularly. If something goes wrong, knowing which shoreline is closer is the difference between a decision and a guess.

What to have with you

• A tyre gauge and a way to reinflate before you drive home
• A recovery strap and a shovel, because getting stuck is normal rather than shameful
• Water, more than you think, since there is no shade anywhere in the bowl
• Eye protection, which matters most on exactly the windy days you would rather ignore
• A charged phone with Emergency SOS via satellite already set up and practised

Consider starting with the guided ride

If you have never been in a dune field at all, Mac Wood's Dune Rides is a legitimate way to see the terrain before you drive it. Forty minutes, no permit, and a dedicated section of the park. Plenty of people do the tour on day one and ride the scramble area on day two, and they ride it better for having seen it first.