When we think about Colorado, USA, the most common image that the mind conjugates is that of the rugged Rocky Mountains, pristine alpine lakes and willfully refreshing rivers. Now for a moment, add to that image a dune field with the highest sand dunes in North America. This combination is the hidden gem of Southwest Colorado.
Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve is 150,000 acres of grasslands, wetlands, dunes, forests, alpine lakes, and rugged 13,000' peaks.
My family and I first stumbled upon this Park in 2007 while driving across from the well known Grand Canyon to another well known Rocky Mountain National Park. In my search for a campground, I perused the Colorado State Park map and found a park with a queer picture of what looked like high dunes in the background. With nightfall approaching and tired kids in the car, I decided to choose the closest one and not be too picky regarding the vicinity. I mean, sand dunes in Colorado? Surely someone made an honest mistake with that picture.
Imagine our surprise when we awoke the next morning and realized the treasure we had uncovered. Right in front of us stood a huge sand dune field with a river flowing on one side and the snow capped mountains in the background. Being the last leg of our three-week road trip, we promised ourselves that we would come back and explore it inside out. And that is exactly what we did four years later in May 2011 when we spent a week in and around this National Park. The following write-up is a first hand experience of the multitude of activities that you can choose from while exploring Great Sand Dunes National Park. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list. Please visit
www.nps.gov/grsa for planning your adventure.
Dunes Exploration
Start your day early with a brisk visit to the Visitor Center and engaging the informative rangers, and exploring the interactive exhibits. Then cross Medano Creek and explore the huge 30 square mile dunefield as you wish - there are no designated trails in the sand. To get a 360 degree view that is truly inspirational and that gives you an idea of just how big the dunefield is, hike to the “High Dune” and/or the “Star Dune”.
Splashing in Medano Creek
This was an instant winner with our entire clan especially after the dune hike. It’s refreshing to splash about in this ankle-deep stream. Watch for waves in the water, a phenomenon called "surge flow”. However, this is a seasonal and snowpack dependent creek which is typically best experienced in mid-to-late May. Furthermore, the water flow increases as you get away from the visitor center and closer to the mountains. Drive to Castle Creek Picnic Area which offers an impressively tall, steep dune face and access to Medano Creek.
Driving the Medano Pass Road
Spend a day on a scenic backcountry drive on Medano Pass Road, going east to west. This gut wrenching, yet exhilarating drive is anything but typical. The rugged road takes you over the rocky 10,000’ Medano Pass, through a forested mountain canyon, and then through two miles of soft sand around the eastern side of the dunefield. The highlight for our family were the nine creek crossings.
Backcountry hike to Medano Lake
During your drive on Medano Pass Road, take a break with a hike to an alpine lake. This 3.7 mile one-way hike will have you climb 2000’ through lush meadows and forests, ending at an alpine lake. We had lunch at the lake and then turned around to complete our scenic backcountry drive.
Overnight Camping in Pinyon Flats Campground
The fun isn’t over when the sun goes down. The pinnacle of solitude is experienced by watching the night sky which illuminates with a million light bulbs thanks to the minimal levels of light pollution in and around the park.
Great Sand Dunes NP is off the beaten path and appeasing to a wide spectrum of adventurers. The icing on the cake is that it is one of the few pet friendly National Parks in the USA.
