Little Sahara Sand Dunes north of Delta can host upwards of 40,000 people on Easter weekend. The state park campgrounds at Sand Hollow near Hurricane and Coral Pink Sand Dunes near Kanab are already booked for Easter weekend. And the more primitive Knolls riding area near Wendover always hosts enthusiasts.

Only high winds seem to deter the crowds.

Laura Melling, park manager for the Sand Hollow complex, which is now entering its fourth Easter as a developed tourist destination, said off-highway-vehicle enthusiasts don't seem to mind wet or cold weather.

"They will come anyway," she said. "If it's wet, it's just a different experience on the sand. Wind can make it really dangerous in the sand. When it blows straight across, you don't see the contours on the ground and you don't know it until you hit it."

Another thing driving the popularity of off-highway-vehicle riding on Utah's Sand Dunes is technological improvements to the vehicles themselves.

"There are all kinds of new machines that we didn't have five years ago," said Melling. "Dealers are coming up with new machines that allow you to put the whole family in the same machine. They are more dependable. Ten years ago, if you were a four-wheeler, you needed a set of tools and needed to know how to use them. Now, you just get on them and go. And they are available for rent for everybody."

While the full hookup campground at Sand Hollow is already reserved, there are about 120 primitive sites near the reservoir and sand dunes that are available. Last year, those filled for the first time, and campers were turned away on the Saturday before Easter.

That could happen this year, since some riding areas around Las Vegas have been closed and riders from the Las Vegas area are joining locals and Wasatch Front riders in looking to Sand Hollow.

The biggest crowds will be at Little Sahara, where no one is turned away, though developed campsites fill quickly.

"Weather doesn't seem to bother them," said Lisa Reid of the Bureau of Land Management, which manages recreation at Little Sahara. "I've seen it just about flooded and numbers are still high. It's one of the biggest weekends of the year."

That can cause problems, especially at Sand Mountain, where thousands camp side by side. When drinking gets out of control, as it has sometimes in the past, the more than 100 law-enforcement officers from state, county and federal agencies have to step in.

"It's like a town within itself," said Reid. "There's not one community in the area that is large as Little Sahara gets over a holiday weekend."

At Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, the four-wheeling has become so popular that the campground books in 10 minutes for major holiday weekends, and reservations are almost a must any time between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Nearly every weekend from March through November gets booked quickly.

The concern there is that because of the 6,000-foot elevation, there is still snow on the dunes that may or may not be gone by Easter, not that it matters.

Park manager Michael Franklin said some dispersed camping with restrictions can be enjoyed at a nearby Bureau of Land Management area with motorized access to the dunes. He said the draw is the family atmosphere with ATV riding for all ages.