White Sands National Park
National Park · Alamogordo, New Mexico
The Tularosa Basin has no outlet to the sea, so the gypsum washed out of the surrounding mountains has nowhere to go: it collects, dries, and the wind grinds it into sand. The result is 275 square miles of dunes that are not quartz but selenite, brilliant white and cool underfoot even at midday because gypsum reflects rather than absorbs heat. It is the largest gypsum dunefield on earth and the only one of this scale anywhere. Dunes Drive runs eight miles into the heart of it, the last stretch on packed gypsum rather than asphalt, and visitors sled down the slopes on plastic discs bought at the gift shop. The park sits inside White Sands Missile Range and closes for testing at short notice, sometimes for several hours, which is the one thing to check before driving out. Sunset over the dunes is the reason most people come and it deserves the reputation. Fossilised human footprints found in the basin here are among the oldest evidence of people anywhere in the Americas.
US Highway 70, Alamogordo, New Mexico, 88310, United States
Open daily. Hours vary seasonally (typically 7 AM - sunset). May close for missile testing (1-2 hours).
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