Bruneau Dunes State Park includes desert, dune, prairie, lake and marsh habitat with opportunities to observe nocturnal species. Bruneau Dunes started to form approximately 11,000 year ago after the tremendous Bonneville flood. It is the tallest single-structured sand dune in North America rising to 470 feet high above small lakes in the high desert south of Mountain Home. Ideal conditions existed here for sand dune formations. The sand doesn't blow away because the dune is created and maintained by long-term wind patterns. The wind in this area comes from two prevailing directions approximately 180 degrees apart. The opposing winds keep the dunes in place. Bruneau Dunes' crater is a unique feature. It is suggested that there are two separate dunes acting to create the crate. No sand is deposited where the ends of the dunes overlap, forming the crater.

Bruneau Canyon Overlook is the only readily accessible spot from which to view the spectacular canyon carved through basalt and rhyolite by the Bruneau River. The opposite rim is 1,300 feet away, and the distance from rim to riverbed is 800 feet. From this spot near the northern terminus of the 60-mile canyon, one can view the wild and scenic Bruneau River tumbling out of the Bruneau-Jarbidge Rivers Wilderness. This spectacular desert gorge on the Bruneau River is 1300 feet wide, 800 feet deep and 60 miles long with one accessible overlook from which to view the canyon. Bighorn sheep and antelope can be seen in the area.