Great Sand Dunes NP

Great Sand Dunes is another National Park “off the beaten path”.  Located in south-central Colorado, away from major populations, it is definitely a destination spot (i.e., you have to want to go there). 

We had made camping reservations at San Luis Lake SP, about 10 miles from the sand dunes.  Like other CO state parks we stayed in this trip, San Luis had large sites and views all around us.  The sand dunes are so large we could see them from our campsite – with the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in the background.

It’s in a rather high desert area (no trees), and, unfortunately its lake was almost dry.  There also was no water at the camp sites; we were prepared with our tank filled.  The camp hosts were great and mentioned the frequent winds in the area; we learned more about these winds and their relationship to the sand dunes during our visit at the NP.

After setting up the RV and walking the dogs, we headed to the NP Visitors Center to get some information on WHY these dunes are here. 

These dunes (the highest in North America) rise up to 750 feet above the surrounding lands and cover about 11% of the total of 330 square miles of sand deposits.  The prevailing winds from the southwest have brought most of the sand from the San Juan Mountains (65 miles away). Of course, this all started many years ago – estimates put the dunes over 400,000 years old.

Grasslands/desert, water, dunes and mountains

However, the sands are not found in a large, sand-covered desert.  The dunes back up to the Sangre de Cristo Mts and the park includes many eco-systems.  Streams (Medano and Sand Creek) flowing from snow melts and rains, go around the dunes carrying the sands towards the open valley beyond. Then the prevailing winds take sands back to the dunes in a continual cycle.

While we were there, hundreds of visitors were enjoying the cold Medano stream and climbing the dune “peaks”.  All said the waters were cold and the climbs strenuous in the sands. 

We chose some hiking along the bases of the mountains, with trailheads located just a few hundred yards from the dunes!  The weather was perfect for viewing the dunes and traveling along areas where early European settlers had tried their luck mining and ranching.  Remnants of the old wagon road were the only remains seen of these early sites. 

We also found mule deer out for their morning forage.  They seemed very accustomed to humans nearby, but kept alert as we moved slowly on down the trail.

One of the trailheads began at the campground, which gave us a chance to check it out.  Being Memorial Day weekend, sites were filled with a mix of tents and smaller trailers and RVs.  It would have been difficult/impossible to find spaces for big rigs.

Large mass colonies of small prickly pear cacti growing along trail

Due to recent rains, a stream along the trail was running wide and deep - we had to ford it with no rocks or logs to use for a bridge.

Leslie jumping over creek on trail

We really enjoyed our brief visit to Great Sand Dunes NP.  The rangers were super - friendly and knowledgeable.  This former National Monument was established as a National Park and Preserve in 2004, to protect the entire geologic and hydrologic system of the dunes.