Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve
National Park And Preserve, Redesignated 2004 From A National Monument First Proclaimed In 1932. Holds The Tallest Sand Dunes In North America, Rising Roughly 750 Feet From The Floor Of The San Luis Valley. An International Dark Sky Park. · Mosca, Colorado
The tallest sand dunes in North America sit at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo mountains, rising some seven hundred and fifty feet out of the floor of the San Luis Valley, and the reason they are there is that the prevailing wind pushes valley sand against a mountain wall it cannot cross. There are no trails on the dunes - you pick a line and climb, which is far harder than it looks, and the sand reaches a hundred and fifty degrees on a summer afternoon. At the base, Medano Creek surfaces for a few weeks each spring and flows in pulses of water that build and break like small waves, which is the single strangest thing in the park and is gone by midsummer. It is also an International Dark Sky Park, and the dunes at night under the Milky Way are the other reason people stay. There is no timed-entry reservation here and no queue at the gate, which after Rocky Mountain National Park is a considerable relief, and the dunes are open at every hour of the day and night.
11999 State Highway 150, Mosca, Colorado, 81146, United States
The park is open twenty-four hours year-round with no reservation required, which makes it a relief after Rocky Mountain. The visitor centre keeps daytime hours. MEDANO CREEK is the seasonal variable that governs everything: it typically surfaces in late spring, peaks around late May and early June and is gone by midsummer, and its flow varies enormously with the snowpack. Medano Pass Primitive Road is four-wheel-drive and seasonal. Sandboard and sled hire is from outfitters outside the park.
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