When we think of national park adventures in Colorado a sandy desert environment may not be what comes to mind. However, Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve’s dune field covers more than 30 square miles with the tallest sand dunes in North America. The park also includes the more iconic Colorado Rocky Mountain scenery on the edges of the dunes. This causes a lovely contrast with green forests rising up the mountains around the barren hot sandy landscape.
A Convergence
The dunes may seem out of place in Colorado, but they’re there due to the perfect conditions. The dune field sits near the mountains in the northeast corner of a valley. Winds from every direction converge on this location carrying sediments from all over. These sediments settle here, deposited by the winds. Over time, mountains of sand emerged ever shifting.
Hiking the Dunes
Visitors can hike into the dunes from along their eastern edge. The most common access also boasts the most crowds just behind the visitor center. We opted to go a bit further up a rough dirt road to a less frequented trail near the Point of No Return.
We arrived just as sunlight crept over the mountains and began flooding the dunes. We went this early for the light and the temperatures. During the middle of the day in the summer, the surface of the sand can be unbearably hot and dangerous. And, thunderstorms riddled with lightning make summer afternoons unpredictable and dangerous on the dunes.
To access the sand mountains, one must hike through terrain that is confused as to whether it is arid high desert, mountain forest, or sand dunes. Then a physical division must be crossed, the Medano Creek. This waterway chills your feet just before climbing up the sandy surfaces. Those surfaces are still chilly before the sun hits them in the morning. However, not long after the sun hit the sand, temperatures rose quickly.
My cousin and I hiked to the top of a nearby dune with bare feet. I don’t know why, but hiking with bare feet seems to be easier than with shoes. This doesn’t mean it is easy if you’re ascending the side of a steep grainy mound that is constantly shifting, but it makes it easier.
Wildlife in Great Sand Dunes National Park
As with many other sand dunes I’ve spent time in, you can see the signs of life all around. Little trails zigged and zagged across the sand. Footprints, large and small, crisscrossed and followed one another. You could see where some trails abruptly ended, presumably because the poor rodent was snatched up by a hungry bird.
Down in the creek, birds flitted about and enjoyed the refreshing cool of the water. We also found deer grazing near the entrance of the park.
I’d love to return to Great Sand Dunes National Park to explore more the dunes and to experience the other ecosystems of the preserve in the mountains. Also, the park is part of a sandhill crane migration route, so I’d love to see them dancing there someday.
