So You Want to Go to Great Sand Dunes National Park? 4 Tips to Make Your Day Great!

 

So you want to go to Great Sand Dunes National Park here are some tips, tricks, and things to do when you are there!

1. Stay nearby!

Great Sand Dunes is not near any large city or town. Unless you want to drive an hour back to a city we would recommend staying in the park at the campground or at Great Sand Dunes Lodge. We stayed in the lodge in one of the geodesic domes, if you want to know more let us know!

2. Rent boards or sleds

There is not much to do in the park unless you are planning on hiking the dunes or going further out backpack through the mountains. To really enjoy your time at the park rent a board or sled at Great Sand Dunes Oasis which is near the entrance of the park. It is $20 each to rent a board and sled for the day. If you do, go to the dunes early since they will get hot in the afternoon.

3. Bring Lots of Water

Walking through sand is exhausting, let alone walking uphill. Bring lots of water to the dunes because you will get dehydrated walking up and down. The valley that the park is in, San Luis Valley, is at ~ 7700 ft above sea level so walking up the sand dunes at a higher elevation will exhaust you. 

4. See the Stars

One of the reasons I wanted to go to Great Sand Dunes, was to see the Milky Way! One great part about being so far way from any large city is that national park is a Dark Sky area, which means on clear nights you can see thousands of stars and the Milky Way! Make sure to have a star finder app to match up all the constellations. 

If you want to know more the Great Sand Dunes National Park website is the best to get up to date information! Hope you have fun exploring!