Colorado’s Great Sand Dunes National Park was created by the winds that sweep the San Luis Valley floor. These dunes stretch for over 30 miles, and have withstood over 440,000 years of wind and nature’s elements to provide a thrill for all visitors. Any time of year, this national park is a playground, whether you “sled” on the dunes in the summer, or ski or sled on them in the winter.
Our family arrived at Great Sand Dunes National Park after having driven from New Mexico, where we visited Carlsbad Caverns National Park and Guadalupe Mountains National Park. It was a gorgeous drive into the park, and we arrived at our campground, the Great Sand Dunes Oasis, at twilight, just in time to take in the gorgeous colors of the park illuminated in the distance. It was spectacular!
The kids enjoyed playing at the park at the campground as the sun set, and I think Quinn found his most incredible swing backdrop EVER. This kid has never met a swings he didn’t love, and this gorgeous setting did not disappoint!
That evening, we enjoyed a bonfire outside, and roasted some s’mores before bed.
The next morning, we woke up, ready to hit the park first-thing, knowing that the sand, which gets VERY hot to the touch, especially in the summer, would be cooler in the morning hours. In the summer, the surface temperature of the sand can reach 140 degrees, depending on the weather!
We rented both a sand sled and a sand board (stand up) from our campground, a convenient place to rent if you are in the area (the visitor center does not rent sleds/sandboards, so prepare to procure them outside the park). Also note that traditional sledding “saucers” don’t work too well on the sand, and that sand sleds and sandboards are the way to go.
First thing, our family hit the Visitor Center for some information, as well as to get the lay of the land. From there, we drove a few minutes into the park and made our way to the Dunes Parking Area, where we parked the RV for the day.
Our family set out, sled and sandboard in hand, to hike to High Dune, one of the closest dunes in the park and 650 feet high (the hike takes an hour or so each way). On our way, we planned to do some sledding and sandboarding.
Upon exiting the parking lot, we first crossed the creek, where many families had set up for the day with beach chairs, sand toys, and picnics, which would be a great place to spend the day and relax if you prefer not to hike.
We began our hike up to High Dune, and it was immediately clear that hiking on the sand was HARD. We did part of the hike in our hiking shoes, until we settled in on a large hill to give sledding and sand boarding a go. SO MUCH FUN. It took some time to get the hang of it, but we all had such an incredible time. Hiking back up the hills after each run was tough work!
Some of us were better than others!
My attempts were not so pretty.
After trying out several hills, we continued hiking further up to High Dune, having ditched our shoes and Justin carrying the brunt of the gear! He is such a trooper!
At this point, we continued to hike in only our socks. We would have gone barefoot, but the sand was WAY too hot!
We found several other hills along the way that were a blast to sled and sandboard on. Going down was like getting a microdermabrasion treatment – sand pelting you the entire way! Wearing sunglasses or ski goggles is a great way to protect your face!
After we had hiked and sledded our faces off, we hiked back to our RV, to rest and relax before heading on to our next destination. It had been a fabulous day in Great Sand Dunes National Park!
