Waning Sands

A desolate, sun-scorched stretch of sandy terrain on Leonida's western edge where the humidity finally gives way to an arid emptiness that feels like the state forgot to finish building.

Waning Sands is the part of Leonida that the tourism board leaves off the brochure. This desolate stretch of sandy, scrub-covered terrain sits on the state's western fringe, where the subtropical lushness gradually gives way to something drier, emptier, and distinctly more menacing. The landscape here is dotted with the skeletons of failed enterprises — abandoned motels with sun-bleached 'Vacancy' signs, shuttered gas stations where tumbleweeds have taken up permanent residence, and half-built housing developments that ran out of money and optimism in equal measure. The few people who live out here are either fiercely independent types who came for the solitude, or people who needed to be somewhere that nobody would come looking. The flat, open terrain makes Waning Sands popular with off-road enthusiasts and illegal racing operations, while the area's remoteness has attracted a few installations surrounded by serious fencing and 'No Trespassing' signs that suggest the government is doing something it'd rather not explain.