Sand Hills State Park north of Hutchinson, Kansas, preserves part of the Hutchinson Dune Tract, a landscape of sand dunes, grasslands, wetlands, and woodlands used for hiking and horseback riding. Established in 1974 with 640 acres acquired by the Kansas Park and Resources Authority, it grew through a 320-acre donation from the Dillon family and another 163 acres obtained with federal Land and Water funds, reaching 1,123 acres. Its rolling dunes, rising about 10 to 40 feet, were formed by windblown sand from the Arkansas River at the end of the last glacial period and are mostly stabilized by prairie grasses. The park is valued both for recreation and for protecting rare dune ecology on the Great Plains.