Everything you need to know about visiting Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado.
Located in southern Colorado along the Sangre de Cristo Mountains are the tallest dunes in North America at Great Sand Dunes National Park. You can explore any part of the 30 square mile dune field because there are no official trails. There are five dunes at the park that are over 700 feet tall.
You will be able to see the sand dunes as you approach even from a good distance away. The photo below I took at a pull-off right before we entered the park.
Tips for Visiting Great Sand Dunes National Park
Arrive early to beat the heat in summer! There is no shade out on the sand dunes, so you want to arrive early. In addition, the sand can get very hot (up to 150 degrees F) so make sure to wear shoes on the sand.
Take plenty of water if you plan to hike out onto the dunes because hiking in the sand is exhausting.
Things to Do at Great Sand Dunes National Park
Medano Creek
The creek runs from spring to early/mid-summer, however, when we visited at the end of July the creek was still flowing. It was very shallow, but my daughter loved playing in the creek as much as she loved sand sledding. You can view the current flow of the creek on the National Park website.
Sand Sledding/Sand Boarding
This is one of the most popular things to do at Great Sand Dunes National Park is to sand sled or sandboard. The National Park says that you need to have the right equipment which means purchasing or renting from local retailers, however, we brought a plastic disc sled that we got to sand sled at White Sands National Park and it worked perfectly fine on the sand. In fact, my daughter was flying down the dunes and we didn’t even use wax. If you are wanting to rent the equipment you can see a list of retailers on the National Park website.
Hike to the top of High Dune the First Ridge
While the high dune on the first ridge is neither the highest in elevation nor the tallest in the park it is the most common destination. It provides a great view of the entire dune field. It is about 699 feet (198 m) from base to top and the average round trip hiking time for High Dune is 2 hours and 2.5 miles. Reminder: walking in the sand can be very exhausting.
Bonus: Zapata Falls
Located 3 miles south of Great Sand Dunes National Park is Zapata Falls, a 20-foot high waterfall. The short 1/2 mile trail will lead you to Zapata Creek where you have no choice but to get your feet wet in order to see Zapata Falls. You will not be able to see the falls from the trail you have to walk through the narrow crevasse. The misty water from the falls and cold creek water is the perfect way to cool off after spending time at Great Sand Dunes National Park. We are so glad that we stopped it became one of our favorite spots on the trip.
Have you visited Great Sand Dunes National Park?
