Besides the high dunes appearing in the area of the village of Samalayuca, the dune fields lie in several other areas of the Samalayuca desert to the southwest and southeast of Ciudad Juarez. A lesser known part of the Salamayuca dune field extends to the west from Samalayuca into the area southwest from Ciudad Juárez. This area (lying west of Mexico Federal Highway 45) is larger than the more dramatic high dune area near Samalayuca, and comprise the bulk of the Samalayuca desert area. These dune fields extend to the north where they lie across the (now abandoned) right of way of the defunct Mexico North Western Railway (Compañía del Ferrocarril Nor-Oeste de México) and extend into the Chihuahua municipality of Ascension. Smaller dune fields also extends to the east from the town of Salamayuca, into the municipality of Guadalupe.