Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, National park and preserve in Saguache and Alamosa counties, Colorado, US
Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve is a national park and protected area in southern Colorado, where tall dunes stretch along the Sangre de Cristo Range. The dunes form a field of around 78 square kilometers, surrounded by grassland, wetlands, and coniferous forests at higher elevations.
Sand from the Rio Grande and its tributaries was blown east across the San Luis Valley and piled against the Sangre de Cristo Range over an estimated tens of thousands of years. President Herbert Hoover designated the dunes a national monument on March 17, 1932, to block gold mining and a concrete-making scheme. Congress redesignated the area a national park and preserve in 2000, and it was established on September 24, 2004.
The name describes the landscape directly: vast sandy expanses that rise against the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Visitors can walk barefoot across the dunes or slide down the steep slopes on special boards, an activity especially popular with younger guests.
The best time to visit is between late spring and early summer, when Medano Creek carries water and temperatures are comfortable. Sturdy footwear helps when climbing the higher dunes, though many guests walk barefoot once they take advantage of the cooler morning hours.
After nightfall, an exceptionally clear starry sky appears here, as the remote location and dry air allow little light pollution. The combination of desert sand and snow-covered peaks in close proximity creates a scene rarely found in North America.
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