Great Sand Dunes National Park
If you've ever wished you could play in the world's biggest sandbox, Great Sand Dunes National Park is the place for you! Nestled against the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, this park is unlike any other national park we've visited. Towering sand dunes rise out of the valley floor, creating an incredible landscape that almost doesn't seem real. It's home to the tallest sand dunes in North America, and it definitely brings out the kid in everyone.
Trip Details:
Where: Great Sand Dunes National Park
Campsite: Sand Dunes Recreation - this was a small RV park, and their focus was more on the hot springs pool that is open to the public. Note that they close their pool every Thursday for cleaning.
Length: 2 days
Itinerary:
Day 1 - Travel Day/Pool Time
Day 2 - Great Sand Dunes National Park/PoolTime
Highlights:
Paige: Walking on the ridge of the sand dunes!
Charlotte: The view when we drove into the park in the early morning revealing the gorgeous sunrise upon the dunes on the top of the mountains.
Mary: Learning about how the sand never blows away and the grandness of the dunes.
Aaron: Seeing the sunrise over the dunes and getting some epic pics!
After visiting White Sands National Park a couple of years ago, we knew exactly how we wanted to experience this park. Rather than trying to squeeze in a bunch of hiking trails, we decided to embrace our inner kids and spend our time simply playing in the sand.
The first challenge? Getting there.
Knowing that the weather was going to get hot quickly, and hearing that the sand could get up to 150 degrees, we knew this was going to be a morning visit to the dunes! As we drove into the park, watching the sunrise over the dunes created beautiful shadows and gave them some great definition.
From the parking lot, the dunes look surprisingly close. The kids confidently grabbed their sandboards and started walking. They quickly realized those dunes were much farther away than they looked! What appeared to be a short stroll turned into nearly a mile walk before we even reached the base of the dunes. The laughter slowly turned into, "Are we there yet?" as we kept trudging through the sand.
Then came the real workout.
Walking uphill on loose sand is no joke! Every step forward seemed to slide us half a step backward. It didn't take long before everyone was breathing hard and questioning how much farther we should climb. The Kuhlman boys, however, were on a mission and easily earned the award for conquering the highest dunes of the day!
Of course, all that climbing meant one thing...it was finally time to fly back down.
Sledding and sandboarding were by far the highlights of our visit. There's something incredibly fun about racing down a massive sand dune, even if you end up with sand in places you didn't know sand could reach! Every ride down meant another long climb back up, but somehow it was always worth it.
One thing we weren't quite prepared for was the wind. It was incredibly windy during our visit, and the blowing sand could be a little brutal on bare legs. Those of us wearing long pants were definitely thankful for the extra protection. If you're planning a visit, that's one tip we'd gladly pass along!
One of the coolest parts of the park was simply stopping to admire how the wind constantly reshaped the dunes. Every ridge, ripple, and curve looked like nature had spent hours sculpting them. It's amazing to think the landscape is continually changing with every gust of wind.
After a morning of enjoying the dunes, we did a little offroading then went to the visitor center to earn our junior ranger badges. The rest of the day was spent enjoying the campsites hot springs pool and some camper games!
Great Sand Dunes National Park may not have been packed with long hikes or scenic drives for us, but it didn't need to be. Sometimes the best adventures happen when you let yourself be a kid again. Whether we were climbing enormous dunes, wiping out on sandboards, or just laughing at how far away those "close" dunes actually were, this park gave us a day we'll always remember.
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