Staying Fit
Colorado’s snowcapped peaks give way to the wide-open, high-desert landscape of the San Luis Valley as you drive south from Denver. And then the topography suddenly shifts once again as gargantuan piles of sand that look straight out of the Sahara Desert appear on the horizon. From this distance, it’s nearly impossible to gauge their immensity. Are they the size of a house? A mountain? Behold: the tallest sand dunes in North America, reaching 750 feet, roughly the height of the Golden Gate Bridge.
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This is Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve (GSDNPAP), where the namesake attractions sprawl across 30 square miles, surrounded by a diverse array of other protected ecosystems, including forests, alpine lakes, grasslands, wetlands and even tundra. But why are the dunes here? About 440,000 years ago, an immense body of water called Lake Alamosa dried up suddenly, and winds blew the sand that was left behind toward the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, where it began piling up higher and higher.
Nomadic hunters arrived some 11,000 years ago to hunt the mammoth and bison that were then plentiful in these parts. Millennia of human habitation passed, and more recently, the Ute and Jicarilla Apache moved in, giving the dunes some colorful names: The Ute called them sowapopheuveha, or “the land that moves back and forth,” while the Apache went with sei-anyedi, or “it goes up and down.”And in 1807, when Zebulon Pike came to explore the land secured in the recent Louisiana Purchase, he wrote of the dunes: “Their appearance was exactly that of the sea in a storm, except as to color, not the least sign of vegetation existing thereon.”
While there may not have been much vegetation, these dunes were rife with potential for other interests: In the 1920s, miners discovered gold in them, and companies began extracting sand to make cement. Coloradans realized their precious natural resource was in danger of being exploited out of existence, so a local women’s group lobbied the federal government for protection. In 1932, President Herbert Hoover declared the area a national monument, and in 2004 the land was upgraded to a national park and preserve — the national park is mostly comprised of the dune fields, while the preserve encompasses additional land in the adjacent Sangre de Cristo Mountains, where hunting and fishing are allowed.
Over the years, the park has attracted more and more travelers, with visitation almost exactly doubling since the 2004 national park designation; in 2019, before the pandemic stifled travel, Great Sand Dunes welcomed 527,546 park enthusiasts. To put that into perspective, the state’s Rocky Mountain National Park attracted almost nine times more visitors during the same period. That means these dunes are often blissfully free of visitors, making for a relaxing retreat for those who come. And with no set trails over the sand, you can make like Lawrence of Arabia and chart your own path through the shifting, windswept terrain.
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Plan Your Trip
Located in the southern stretches of Colorado, the national park is almost equidistant between Denver (234 miles away) and Albuquerque (246 miles away). From Denver, the route is relatively easy — just a straight shot south on Interstate 25, through Colorado Springs, and then west on U.S. Route 160 and north on state Route 150. For a more scenic drive through the mountains, you can take U.S. Route 285 south from Denver, though there’s a slight detour this year due to construction on a local road near the park entrance that will slow you down. From Albuquerque, drive north on Interstate 25 to Santa Fe, then continue north on 285; when you reach Alamosa, turn east on 160 and then north on 150.
There’s one entrance station on the park’s southern edge, where you pay the admission fee ($25 per vehicle). Less than a mile into the park, stop by the visitor center for restrooms and drinking water, maps, interactive exhibits about the park’s geology and a souvenir shop. Out back on a porch, use a viewing scope to explore the dunes from a different vantage point.
When timing your visit, remember that looks can be deceiving: Even though the visitor center and the base of the dunes sit in a valley, that seemingly “low” point is actually at an elevation of about 8,200 feet. In the summer, daytime highs usually reach about 80 degrees, with cooler nights that can drop into the 40s. But despite the seemingly mild temperatures, the surface of the sand dunes can still hit a blazing 150 degrees on a sunny day. Spring tends to be windy and chilly, with March and April bringing the most snowfall; autumn, on the other hand, is usually pleasant, with average highs in September hitting the low 70s. And winter is cold! Highs hit the teens to 30s, with lows sinking to about 15 degrees below zero. But it’s almost always sunny, and the dry air makes the temperatures feel less frigid.
While summer is undoubtedly the high season, Kathy Faz, the park’s chief of interpretation and visitor services, says that having the space to yourself can be as easy as avoiding weekends and busy summer holidays.
Natural History Archive / Alamy Stock Photo
Where to Stay and Eat
The only lodging option in the park is camping, with the best amenities at the Piñon Flats Campground, open April through October. Located a mile beyond the visitor center, its 91 campsites are set in a thicket of piñon pines and sagebrush, just as the valley begins to gently slope up into the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, and mule deer can often be seen traipsing through the campground. Reserve individual sites up to six months in advance (recreation.gov); group sites, up to a full year in advance.
