Great Sand Dunes is one of the smaller National Parks but it is not short on fun! Although you could spend multiple days here, you can still experience this gorgeous park in one full day. Great Sand Dunes is different from other National Parks, there aren’t many grand overlooks or roadside pull offs. If you want beautiful views, you have to get a little sandy 😉
About the Park:
Great Sand Dunes was originally established as a national monument by President Hoover in 1932, and it wasn’t designated as a national park until 2004. Set at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Great Sand Dunes National Park protects and preserves the tallest sand dune in the continent! Standing at 750 feet, Star Dune provides tremendous views and a tough workout for those willing to climb to the top. You don’t need to make it to the top to take in the views, visitors can traverse the approximately 30 square miles of dune fields as they please.
How were the dunes formed?
Great Sand Dunes National Park is set at the base of two neighboring mountain ranges, the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and the San Juan Mountains. Where these two mountain ranges come together to form a pocket. Millions of years ago, water melting off the two mountain ranges formed a lake in this pocket, Lake Alamosa. As water flowed into the lake, sediment and sand would wash into the area.
Eventually, the lake disappeared, leaving behind all the sediment and sand. The unique layout of the mountain ranges causes the wind to blow into the pocket in opposite directions, which leads to the formation of the dunes. Sand and sediment still wash down from the glacial melt each year, and the dunes continue to grow over time, but at a very slow pace.
The sand dunes continue to grow, and the sand moves depending upon the wind and weather. Each visit to the park is a unique experience for visitors.
Top 5 Things to Do:
- Hike the Dunes:
The most obvious thing, and the reason most people make the trip to Great Sand Dunes National Park is to walk on the dunes. Getting there is easy. Once you enter the park, drive past the visitor center and take the next left. This will lead you to a large parking lot. From here, you will make the roughly quarter mile trek to the dunes. There is an obvious entrance point from the parking lot, but there are no trails in the dunes. Their constant ebb and flow from the wind cover any obvious trails. From the entrance point, visitors can traverse to the dunes, exploring and direction they choose.
While we were there some people wore hiking boots, some were barefoot, some in tennis shoes. We even saw someone in snow shoes which actually seemed to make walking on the sand a lot easier. We found that the trek out took a little longer than we planned with three children, carrying our youngest for most of the walk through the loose sand, but once you’re out there the views are worth the effort!
2. Go Sand Sledding and Boarding
Sand sledding was our favorite part of our visit! It was VERY windy the days we were there, but we still had a great time! You end up covered in sand at the end of it anyway so it didn’t matter much that the wind was blowing so hard.
We rented our sand sleds from the Oasis Store. This small store is 4 miles outside the park, you drive right past it on your way in. The cost was $20/board for a full day reservation, 8:00am – 4:30pm. They have a limited number of boards here so get there early in the morning to make sure you can get a rental.
Kristi Sports in the nearby town of Alamosa also has sled and board rentals. This is a little farther away, about 40 miles, but if your passing through on your way to the park you could stop and bring it in with you. The NPS site has a list of a few more rental places, many of which were closed due to COVID when we were there.
It was a struggle to carry our boards and our toddlers across the loose sand, but the trek was worth it for the hours of fun we had. We started off on the smaller dunes, but the kids eventually worked their way up to some longer runs! A great time was had by all, even our youngest had fun playing in the sand!
3. Have a “beach” day
A great way to beat the heat at Great Sand Dunes National Park is by cooling off in Medano Creek. This creek is formed from runoff from the mountains and passes right by the base of the sand dunes. You actually have to cross this creek to reach hike the sand dunes. When we were there it was only a few inches deep, but this seasonal stream eventually creates enough flow you can raft down, a great activity for summer when temperatures on the dunes can reach as high as 150 degrees!
4. Star Gazing
Although we did not do this, you can actually camp in the sand dunes! We were fortunate to snag a spot to camp in the park’s campground, Pinon Flats, and had a great experience, but if you want a truly memorable experience, you can grab a backcountry camping permit to camp anywhere in the dunes. The permits are first come first served and a maximum of twenty groups a night are handed out. You can find more information here or at the Great Sand Dunes Visitors Center.
Even if you don’t want to spend the night on the dunes, the park is certified as an International Dark Sky Park. The stars are beautiful, and on a moonless night can make for great night photography!
5. Medano Pass Primitive Road
The Medano Pass Primitive Road offers those with 4WD vehicles another excellent vantage point of the park. The road is 22 miles long and connects the main road in the park to highway 69. It is a very rough road and has large portions of soft sand. The road goes up the mountain to an elevation of 10,000 feet, crossing Medano Creek several times and offering visitors spectacular views of the dunes. If you don’t have a 4WD vehicle, you can rent them from Pathfinders 4×4, the only authorized 4WD for the park.
Where to stay in Great Sand Dunes National Park:
The best way to experience Great Sand Dunes National Park is by camping! There are a few hotels in the town of Alamosa, but the 30 minute drive could make it more difficult to see a sunrise or sunset in the park.
Pinion Flats campground in the park is open seasonally from April 1st to October 31st and reservations can be made 6 months in advance on Recreation.gov. We were lucky enough to grab a spot here the day before we visited, so don’t forget to check for last minute cancellations!
The campground is well spaced and has restrooms but no showers. Most spots are setup well for tent camping, if you have a larger RV or trailer, make sure to double check the length because some spots may be hard to fit! TIP* Site #21 is a tent site and (in our opinion) offers the best views in the campground!
There is also a tiny camp store right Pinon Flats. It has some basic food and supplies, ice cream, and bundles of firewood available.
Great Sand Dunes Lodge offers the closest lodging to the park. The motel offer standard rooms and suites and makes a great spot to explore the park and other local hotspots like Zapata Falls and the San Juan Mountains.
Great Sand Dunes Oasis is also right outside the park. You can rent a motel room here, or camp in one of their 20 RV sites. The Oasis offers a general store and is the location to rent the sand sleds!
When to Visit Great Sand Dunes National Park:
Great Sand Dunes National Park is open year round, but the campground is only open late Spring to early Fall. In the winter, the temperatures can drop and cause the sand to freeze so sand sleds cannot be rented, but in the summer, the temperatures on the dunes can reach up to 150 degrees! This makes Spring and Fall the best time to visit.
If you have any tips or questions about visiting Great Sand Dunes National Park, let us know in the comments below!