Great Sand Dunes National Park

Hikes and Hiking

There are no trails within the Dunes of the National Park, the constantly shifting sand would simply cover them within a few days.

Well worth the hike up!

Park your car at the Visitor Centre and in the corner is an access point to the dunes. It is permitted to walk anywhere and one popular target is the top of the "High Dune", which luckily is only a mile or so from the edge close to the Parking area.

The journey takes around an hour and it is often a case of one step up, half a step down. It is easier to walk along sand ridges, rather than up the side of the dunes, which in many places is impossibly hard. (Though quite amusing to watch people try!) The sand is reasonably well packed in places which makes walking straightforward enough but in most places it is loose to at least some degree and it makes for very tired legs!

The visitor center also has some special wheel chairs for disabled visitors that have large inflatable balls for wheels, though for the pushed going up the sand dunes be warned, it is very hard work indeed.

The surface temperature of the sand can rise to over 140 F, take water, and packing a spare pair of socks not a bad idea, you will get sand in your shoes.

The dunes are a great place for kids and the park can get very crowded in summer but walk a little way away from the mecca of the highest sand dune and you can find solitude...

Montville Nature Trail - This half mile trail starts about 400 yards north of the Visitor Center. Take along a trail guide from the Visitor Center and learn a little natural and human history of the area. The trail gets its name from a late 1800s settlement at the foot of nearby Mosca Pass, consisting of 20 houses in its heyday.

Star Dune - This is the highest dune in North America and is about a mile west from High Dune or two miles from the Visitor Centre. It's a strenuous climb to the top through the loose sand and you'll encounter a zig zagging route to the summit. Fantastic views from the top, but only for the fit!

Medano Creek - A small stream fed by melting snow that is only about ten miles long and flows during spring and early summer, flowing at the base of the dunes. During dry years, the creek disappears. For several hundred yards, the creek flows across a flat sandy area many metres wide. The clear, warm water constantly changes course and intensity and moves in babbling wave-like ripples across the sand. Watch for animal tracks and signs of insect life in the damp sand--there are 6 species of insects living in the dunes which are unique to this ecosystem.

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