Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve is the United States newest National Park, which officially came to be in September 2004. They are North America’s highest and tallest dunes, with the tallest (base to peak relief) one, Star Dune, reaching 750 feet above the valley floor. Star Dune is the prominent dune you'll see when entering the park. High Dune, the tallest dune visible from the visitor center, and not actually the highest in the dune field at 8691', is 650 feet tall. The highest dune actually sits in the far northeast corner and reaches 8,800'. The Eureka Dunes in Death Valley National Park have also been said to be North America’s tallest by some accounts, though the tallest dune in its one-mile wide, three-mile long strip is 680 feet. So, Colorado officially gets the bragging rights! The dune field is 30 square miles and is roughly 7 miles long and 5 miles wide. Surrounding the pile is a sand sheet which is a flat section of sand that is stabilized by vegetation. This could possibly be the best deal in the national park system as the entrance fee is only $3.

This was another place my family visited in my childhood days and it has always held a special place in my heart ever since. My first memory of seeing the dunes was when we were approaching them from the south on Highway 150. The road was complete with mirages, which are commonplace in the San Luis Valley, on this hot, clear summer day, and the dunes rose up way off in the distance like their own mountain range. I was so excited to be going to a big sandbox, the likes of which I had not seen before, and it seemingly took forever driving those last 16 miles into the monument. That wall of sand, though growing ever-larger, still seemed a long ways off. We obviously made it and I certainly had a great time while there, save for the largest, most annoying herd of mosquitoes I’ve ever been around to this day! They were buzzing around in the campground making everyone's lives miserable. The dreadful mosquitoes were countered by making sand castles along Medano Creek, taking a tour ride along the sandy section of the Medano Pass road on the eastern edge of the dunes, hiking up to High Dune and seeing the expansive view of the dune field that literally seemed to go on forever—a sight that I still remember today; then running, stumbling, falling and sliding on the way down! It really is quite the sandbox, and the whole family is sure to enjoy.

If you want the traditional icon picture of this place, park at one of the two back-to-back roadside pullouts near the main park entrance sign immediately after the cattle guard near the Amoco service station and store. Zoom in as far as you can to bring Kit Carson Mountain (14,165'), Crestone Peak (14,294’) and Crestone Needle (14,197') up close over Star Dune below. Sunset is best for the warm light on the dunes, but sunrise works great, too, though the sun doesn’t actually hit the sand until long after any clouds may have held any color. From here, looking north, northwest, you can see the southern end of the Sawatch Range. Mt. Ouray (13,971') will be the prominent pyramid peak on the skyline in this section. To its right, and where the Sangre de Cristo Range meets the mighty Sawatch, you can see as far as Mt. Princeton (14,197') which lies some 80 miles away.

Early rays of light hit the sandbox as seen from the Zapata Falls trailhead.
Star Dune lies directly below Cleveland Peak in the center.

In the spring and early summer, Medano (the Spanish word for sand dune, and locally pronounced med-en-oh) Creek makes its way down from the pass of the same name and flows down the east and south perimeter of the dunes. Families flock here by the dozens and walk and play in the creek. Kids can be seen making sand castles just as I had done back in the day, and having the time of their life in this beach-like setting. The creek has a surge flow that is caused by antidunes (small dunes) that form by sand that builds up below the water surface, then get pushed over when they can no longer dam the water. Then, the waves, which can be up to a foot high, move downstream. This process happens about every 10-15 seconds. A surge flow can only be found in just a few streams on earth, and Medano provides the best example on our continent. Medano Creek plays a vital role in the recycling process of the sand as it carries the grains downstream. Then, as the stream goes underground and the surface dries, the southwesterly winds blows the sand back again. Medano Creek also helps keep the position of the entire dune field by cutting away at the east side, though the primary factor in keeping the positioning of it is the northeasterly winds that blow back down from the Sangres. One of the most fascinating facts that I find showing the stability of the dunes are some surveys that have been done on High Dune. During one year, it shifted 14 feet. Another year saw it move 30 feet, but in the opposite direction! And, over time, its height has changed less than three feet!* To the east of the Medano Creek in the Castle Creek vicinity, a cluster of dunes known as the Escape Dunes, broke away from the main dune field and moved across Medano Creek when it was dry.

Speaking of Castle Creek, there is a picnic area here at along the Medano Pass road (in the sandy section) that I have to spend some time at on every trip. If you don’t have 4WD, it is about a mile walk to get here. The reason I like this spot so much is because of the huge, steep wall (known as a slip-face) of sand that starts on the edge of Medano Creek. Good luck if you want to try to climb up this section! You could probably time your ascent with a calendar! The Medano Pass road will be gated here in the winter depending on the amount of snow. If there’s not much snow in this area, the road will be gated about a mile into the Preserve.

The dune field blanketed with snow as seen from atop High Dune

If you’ve not walked/hiked on sand before, I will tell you that it is HARD work! Even walking out on the level sand sheet isn’t exactly easy, but once you actually get to the dunes and have to go uphill, you may wonder what the heck you’re doing out there and will likely want to turn back at any time, and all the time! Should you stay determined enough to make it to High Dune, or the ridge along which it sits, you will be rewarded with a view that is second to none—one where virtually the entire dune field lies before your eyes. It’s as if you have just summited a high mountain and can see range after range. It is one of the best sites in all of Colorado to be sure. You can’t help but to feel exhilarated. Then, going down is a heck of a lot more fun then going up!

One of the advantages of going in the winter, other than far fewer people, is that the moisture in the sand will freeze in places and will make hiking on it MUCH easier. One of my favorite things about seeing them in the winter is that when there is snow on them, the snow will eventually break off in plates, either due to their weight, or from the shifting sand. I’m not sure why I find great interest in this, but I can’t help but to enjoy it! The eastern edge of the dunes near Castle Creek will have the most snow if the rest of the dune field is mostly void of it should you want to try to see this for yourself.

Snow plates

The San Luis Valley is desert country in that it receives less than 10” of moisture annually. So, it seems odd that the dunes exist in a place where water plays an such an important role, as mentioned earlier with the recycling of sand and the general moisture content in the core of the dunes. Even wilder, this is the most diverse landscape ecosystem in such a concentrated area in North America: in three linear miles, the land goes from wetlands, at 8,100', to the alpine zone with 13,000-foot peaks, and in between, you have grasslands, desert sand dunes, pinion, juniper, evergreen and aspen forests and all the wildlife you would expect to inhabit such zones! Truly, this is a unique place.

If you want to take a non-standard approach into the park, and you have a 4WD vehicle, take the Medano Pass road that starts in the Wet Mountain Valley. You may view one of my trip reports from it here.

Another cool place nearby I would suggest stopping in at is Zapata Falls. You’ll see the sign for it near mile marker 11 on Highway 150, just five miles from the National Park entrance. Take the 10-minute drive up to the trailhead along the rather annoying washboard road. At this parking lot is an incredibly awesome vantage point of the dunes as it is somewhat of a low aerial perspective. You’ll be able to see virtually the whole dune field from here. To get to Zapata Falls, it is an easy half-mile hike. The falls lie in a short slot canyon which is very cool in and of itself. If you come in the summer, be prepared to get your feet wet as you’ll have to walk in the stream. Just wear your shoes and let your socks get wet. It’s only water! Winter is another great time to visit the falls—and you won’t get your feet wet! The falls won’t have the roar as they do in the summer, either, since they’re frozen over. However, you’ll still be able to see a stream of water flowing behind some of the frozen clear ice, and with it, the soothing sound of the soft flow.

Yours truly at Zapata Falls. Photo courtesy of Jesse Speer

Another great view can be found from the Dunes Overlook Trail. The overlook is reached via an easy-to-moderate, one-mile trail with a 400-foot elevation gain that starts in the second loop in the campground (specifically, campsite #62), or at the Point of No Return parking lot along the Medano road. It’s virtually an equal distance from both. The view of the dune field from here is great as mentioned, but unfortunately, you can't see it in its entirety. Still, it’s tough to beat for this short of a hike.

The view from the Dunes Overlook Trail

The dune field as seen from the 13,340-foot summit of Mt. Herard
Photo courtesy of Jack Brauer

For a closer in-depth study of the dune field from Mt. Herard, click here (692 KB)
Photo courtesy of Jack Brauer

These last two images have been used to complete all the main vantage points of the Great Sand Dunes and have been reproduced with permission from Jack Brauer. To view more of his amazing collection of unique Colorodo photographs, and from around the world, I highly encourage you to visit his site at WideRange.org. Thanks, Jack!

View the 100-picture gallery!

View the higher quality image gallery in my landscapes section

Resources

There are two must-have outstanding resources for the Great Sand Dunes which I highly recommend:

First up, is Charlie and Diane Winger’s The Essential Guide to Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. This book is the premier, and most complete, guide for the dunes and surrounding area, without question. It is extremely well done and is a very fun read. I like to have a lot of pictures in the books I read, and this one certainly fits that bill! It is chock-full of pictures, including almost every possible perspective of the dunes themselves, and gives you all the information you ever wanted to know about them, including history, area hikes, facilities, nearby attractions, and quite literally, everything in between. Be sure to visit their web site for their other online coverage of the dunes: GreatSandDunes.info. Diane, thanks for the great compliments about this article of mine and for putting a link on your site!

The second book that I highly recommend is John Weller’s Great Sand Dunes National Park, Between Light and Shadow (Web site no longer online). This is, without question, the greatest photographic study ever of the dunes. John’s book spans trips taken every month trips for 3 1⁄2 years. I had the opportunity to go to one of his book signings and slide shows and meet him shortly after this book’s release. He is truly a pioneer of the Great Sand Dunes, and quite likely one who has seen and explored more of them than anyone else previously. I can also recommend his DVD as well. If nothing else, be sure to view his pictures and download his awesome video trailer on his site linked above!

A third book is, Valley of the Dunes by Wendy Shattil, Bob Rozinski, and Audrey Benedict. It has more of a wider scope of the dunes than Weller's book as the pictures aren't all taken from within the dune field. In fact, it has a lot of wildlife and other imagery from other parts nearby in the San Luis Valley. While still a good resource, I find the grain in most of the images (due to the film or scanning, not the sand!) to be rather excessive and disappointing, along with a numer of out-of-focus shots which prevents me from suggesting it to be a must-have. For a preview, you can view some of their images here. You'll have to hit the agree button then type in a search for Great Sand Dunes which will then display the gallery.


Official site of the National Park Service

*This fact courtesy The Essential Guide to Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve by Charlie & Diane Winger