Desert Riyadh
The Red Sand Dunes. An hour from Olaya.
Iron-red dunes north-east of Riyadh near Al Thumamah, close enough to the city to be an afternoon and far enough to feel like the desert proper.
The Red Sand Dunes at a glance
- Where
- Near Al Thumamah, north-east of the city
- From Riyadh
- About 45 minutes to an hour
- Allow
- An afternoon, ending at sunset
- Vehicle
- SUV, or a sedan to the roadside
The Red Sand Dunes, in detail
Why the sand is red
The colour is iron oxide in the grains: a deep rust that goes coppery in low sun and reads almost orange against the pale scrub at the edges. The dunes sit north-east of Riyadh out towards Al Thumamah, where the tarmac stops being city and starts being road.
They are not a single dune but a field of them, rolling for kilometres, with ridges high enough to be worth climbing and hollows quiet enough that the road disappears once you are in one.
The proximity is the point. This is the desert forty-five minutes to an hour from Olaya, which makes it the easiest real desert afternoon anywhere near the capital.
What happens when you get there
There is an established scene at the roadside: quad bike and buggy operators, camels, and vendors with tea. It is informal rather than a park, and busiest on Thursday and Friday evenings when Riyadh comes out for the weekend.
Most visitors walk in past all of it. Ten minutes over the first ridge the noise stops, and what is left is sand, sky and the ridge line.
Anything you want arranged in advance rather than negotiated on arrival can be handled by the coordinator when the car is booked. Gahwa and dates come from the car either way.
Getting there and how long to allow
The road is paved the whole way and a sedan reaches the roadside without difficulty. An SUV is the better car if you want to be dropped past the first stretch of soft sand rather than walking it, and it is the one most guests take.
Allow an afternoon. Leaving Riyadh around three or four puts you on the dunes for the last of the light, which is both the coolest and the best-looking part of the day.
The car waits. Nobody is watching a meter, and you leave when the light has gone rather than when a schedule says so.
On the day What there is to do
Worth doing while you are there.
Sandboarding
Boards are available from the operators at the roadside. The bigger ridges hold a long enough run to be worth the climb back up.
Quad bikes and buggies
Rented on site by the half hour. Agree the price and the time before you get on, as you would anywhere.
Camel rides
Short rides along the dune line, usually near the roadside pull-in. Popular with families and the photograph everyone takes.
Walk over the first ridge
Free, and the best thing here. Ten minutes on foot puts the road out of sight and the desert genuinely quiet.
Gahwa at sunset
Coffee and dates out of the car as the sand goes copper. The reason to time the afternoon the way we do.
Stay for the stars
Away from the city lights the sky is worth another half hour after dark. The chauffeur waits and drives you back.
An afternoon in the desert, car waiting.
Send the date and roughly how the day should go. The car, the chauffeur and one all-inclusive price come back in writing, and the itinerary stays yours to change on the day.
Before you ask Red Sand Dunes
Asked, answered.
About 45 minutes to an hour north-east of the city, out towards Al Thumamah. Sources put the distance anywhere from 45 to 80 kilometres depending on which pull-in they measure to; the drive time is the reliable figure.
Yes. The road is paved all the way to the roadside and a sedan is fine. An SUV is the better choice if you want to be dropped past the first soft sand rather than walking across it.
Sandboarding, quad bikes and buggies, and camel rides are all available from operators at the roadside. Walking over the first ridge into the quiet is free and is what most people remember.
Late afternoon into sunset, when the heat drops and the sand turns properly copper. Thursday and Friday evenings are the busiest, because that is when Riyadh comes out.
Yes, and it is the usual full day. The dunes sit north-east of the city and the escarpment north-west, so a morning at one and an afternoon at the other works in one car.