Great Sand Dunes National Park - Colorado

The enormous sandbox at the Great Sand Dunes National Preserve makes you feel, very simply, like a kid again. People of all ages run up these 750-foot-high dunes just to roll down, laughing while their shorts fill up with sand.

The Great Sand Dunes contrast sharply with the mountains close by.

Seeming totally out of place at the edge of the snow-covered Rocky Mountains, these dunes of pure golden sand cover an area about 7 by 5 miles over the floor of the flat San Luis Valley

The dunes make for a dramatic setting on the plains of south-central Colorado, right at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo range. From the top you can see mountains on one side, while on the other, the dunes seem to stretch forever. Continue into the dunes and it's easy to convince yourself that you're in the Sahara.

The dunes probably started to form about 12,000 years ago, when the swollen Rio Grande spread sand across the San Luis Valley. Heavy winds carried-and still carry-the sand toward the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and dropped it off as the winds lost steam. Yet while heavy winds move the sand around quite a bit (you don't want to get caught in a sandstorm), moisture acts as a stabilizer, maintaining the height and even the contours of the dunes. Come back in 10 years and they're likely to look much the same.

The dunes themselves are not a haven for tons of flora or fauna, but you will find some 20 species of plants (pinon pine, juniper) and several more of animals (rabbits, mule deer) and birds (like the green-tailed towhee). However, Congress expanded the preserve in 2001, adding several habitats from the surrounding area. The topography of the preserve ranges from mountain tundra and pine forest to wetlands and desert, sheltering many endemic species.

On November 22nd, 2000, Great Sand Dunes was officially upgraded in status to a National Park and there are plans to expand the borders of the Park to further help preserve this wonderful landscape.

There is also under construction an upgraded visitor centre and more visitor facilities.

Introduction - Key Information - How to get to - When to Visit - Around the Park - Top Attractions - Hikes and Trails - Gallery