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The Ma-le’l Dunes is one of the most pristine dune systems in the Pacific Northwest. Located on the Samoa Peninsula west of Arcata, its undulating sand mounds, sprawling coastal forest, salt marshes and diverse native flora have earned the area recognition as a National Natural Landmark — a designation reserved for the nation’s most “outstanding biological and geological resources.” 

But do you know how the Ma-le’l Dunes came to be? In today’s episode of Humboldt Outdoors, local documentarian Ray Olson and Friends of the Dunes Restoration Manager Justin Legge discuss the unusual geological events that shaped the dunes and the ancient forest that still lies beneath the surface.

Olson points to an ancient tree partially buried in sand. | Screenshot. 

“This isn’t just a story about geology,” Olson says in the video above. “In the path of these advancing Dunes is an ancient and rare forest. It’s a relic from the Ice Age! And as these dunes are moving in, they’re slowly smothering large swaths of this ancient forest. Leading edges of this dune have already reached Humboldt Bay.”

Legge also shares his expertise on the unique flora and fauna that reside in the coastal dunes, including a strange little beetle that swims through sand and a pine species that only grows as tall as the dunes that surround it. How ‘bout that!

“Once you climb out of that rare, weird dune forest on top of that giant sand sheet, it feels like you’re out on the moon — your entire vision is just open sand dunes and maybe a little peek of the ocean,” Legge said. “And it just feels like such an alien landscape, so different than anywhere else in Humboldt County.”

Do yourself a favor and click “play” on the video above to learn all about one of Humboldt County’s greatest treasures. Want to see it for yourself? Check out the Bureau of Land Management’s website before you go.

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