Athabasca Sand Dunes Provincial Park

[2] It first came to attention that it should be a protected area in 1969,[1] finally becoming the Athabasca Sand Dunes Provincial Wilderness Park on August 24, 1992.

[2] As glaciers receded, meltwater washed enormous quantities of sand, silt and sediment from local sandstone into Lake Athabasca, whose water level was at the time much higher than currently.

The sand almost completely covers the underlying sandstone deposits; the bedrock is around 20 metres (66 ft) below ground on average.

The area is home to numerous plant species (some of which are endemic or rare), including the felt-leaved willow (Salix silicicola), Mackenzie hairgrass (Deschampsia mackenzieana), Tyrrell's willow (Salix planifolia tyrrellii), pipsissewa (Chimaphila umbellata), woolly beachheather (Hudsonia tomentosa), black spruce (Picea mariana), sea thrift (Armeria maritima) and floccose tansy (Tanacetum huronense var.

[2] Media related to Athabasca Sand Dunes Provincial Park at Wikimedia Commons Download coordinates as:

Athabasca sand dunes and vicinity aerial view
Lake Athabasca (data date June 9, 2002): [ 8 ] the ice is light blue, dark blue is open water and the sand dunes located within the park on the south shore are white.