One of those one-of-a-kind places where you can be alone and you wouldn't want it any other way...
It is easy to forget while in the throes of a busy life that there are accessible places in the United States where you can find yourself and lose yourself at the same time in a world of wild beauty. Just a little over four hours driving from Denver, you can experience exactly that. Enter one of Colorado’s best-kept secrets—Great Sand Dunes National Park—home to the highest sand dunes in North America and one of the few places in this part of the world where you can wander into a scene that might as well be plucked from a day in the life of the Sahara or the Gobi. Visitors come from far and wide to experience the dunes, then are thrust into the larger context of an ecosystem that extends across alpine desert, grassland, and forest environments; all kissed by the wind, sun, and the bewitching effects of peaceful solitude. There, you can slice adventures that are entirely unique to one another from the same epic wilderness pie... we wanted to outline some of them here; and also describe the general park layout that is as unexpectedly diverse as it is vast.
Sprawling Sand Dunes
Great Sand Dunes National Park in October 2016, just before sunset.
The dunes are situated between the Sangre de Cristo and San Juan Mountains, sprawling out onto the floor of the San Luis Valley covering 30-square miles. Scientists believe that the sand is 35 million years old – the result of a volcanic eruption that scattered tuff and ash across the valley floor in the area where the Sangre de Cristo Mountains now stand. As the mountains formed, particles were pushed off to one side and are now protected by the massive 13,000-foot mountain range. The sand is constantly reshaped and migrated by powerful winds that move them back and forth as they continuously grow a more stable foundation and crawl higher into the sky. It is suspected that these dunes will only grow in size and scale as time marches on.
Mountains
The Sangre de Cristo Mountains, the southernmost subrange of the Rocky Mountains.
As mentioned in the intro, this park is not a one trick pony. Beyond the dune fields exists 150,000 acres of forests where cottonwood, aspen, and piñon pine cover the foothills while dense spruce-fir forests and tundra blankets the alpine regions at higher elevations (up to 13,604 feet.) The broad range of elevation pretty well ensures that you will see a diverse environment no matter what you are doing; and the high altitude makes it a natural orb attracting technical climbers and mountaineers from around the world. Backing down from the clouds, and in the same mountain range, there are many excellent trails for day hiking that also serve as jumping off points to backpacking areas in the Sangre de Cristo wilderness.
Lowlands
Aerial shot from Highway 150, just outside of Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado.
For those wanting to stay closer to the lower elevations (8,000 feet isn’t exactly low, but in Colorado it is) there are plenty of ways to stay happily occupied. During the spring and summer, the shores of Medano Creek burst with activity as kids of all ages splash and play in the water, build sand castles, and skimboard across the shallow creek beneath the Colorado sun. Nature trails are a great way to get off of the sand and beat the heat during the scorching summer months; and beautiful views of the dunes can be seen from the campsites at the Piñon Flats campground.
The grasslands leading up to the dunes are a wonderful place to take photographs and to see wildlife (pronghorn, deer, and elk are common,) as well as more than 200 bird species that have been documented in the area. During mid-August, the lowland fields explode in colors of yellow and green during the annual sunflower bloom. Eight miles south of the park is family-favorite Zapata Falls, a short .5-mile hike to a small waterfall where you can catch some shade in an otherwise exposed wilderness.
Ways To Play
Kids running up the dunes to catch the sunset.
If you want to feel really, really happy, head to Colorado and go sandboarding!
Playing on sand dunes pretty easily turns anyone into a kid again, igniting the soul of the dreamer, while providing an excellent place for outdoor sport. Hikers blaze their own trail onto the soft sand dunes, sand boarders fly down with stand-up or sit-down boards on paths of their own making, and backpackers disappear into the rolling hills to set up camp away from all signs of humanity other than those with whom they are camping with. Great Sand Dunes National Park is one of the quietest national parks, and virtually no light pollution obstructs skygazing opportunities, two features that cast a spell on backpackers who want to connect more deeply with the natural world. In the far reaches of the dunes—alone with your gear, the sunset, the stars, the moon and the sky—it is impossible not to be profoundly moved by the absence of sound and human activity... all you can see, hear, and feel is the land. That kind of presence is fleeting and fantastic.
Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado.