Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve

Beautiful / magical / entertaining / amazing This is such a great vacation location for any family and friends. Bring plenty of food and water you can eat in your car before adventures in the sand. You will definitely need the energy. My Tips are being either sun glasses or goggles cause the sand will indeed hit your face or eyes and will hurt depending on the wind/weather. Some areas are hot if the sand has been sitting in the sun, please be aware. Bring water cause the walk in the sand is unimaginable exhausting. There is an area you can rent a board to sand board. Bring the right shoes, wear sunscreen and protective your face and ears too you will leave here with sand pretty much everywhere on anything.

Gorgeous! I came here on Christmas Day with my partner and two huskies. No park fee, which was great. Parking was easy. It was still quite busy for a holiday - not sure how it is normally. Bundle up and bring eye protection. I wish I had goggles for my dogs because it was windy.We chose not to rent or bring sleds. Honestly that activity looks sketchy and unsafe, but people love doing that here. We stayed at an Airbnb in Crestone, so it was a bit of a drive. Maybe we'll camp out next time. I heard the night skies make it special. Beautiful national park worth visiting!

Yeah it is worth your time to drive down here and visit. I even more highly recommend backpacking into the back country to get a real feel for how majestic this place is.Better to go when it is less crowded as it can be insane.Plenty of ways to visit: Hiking, 4 wheeling, Horseback, biking, etc.The campsites were empty at this time of year.check it out

We camped one night en route to Mesa Verde from Denver. The campground was really nice and the bathrooms were extremely clean. The night sky was plain incredible. We didn't make it very far to the dunes because our son ended up deciding there was plenty of sand to play in just by sitting down. We'd absolutely visit again!

Welcome to the tallest sand dunes in North America! The tallest dune supposedly reaches almost 750 feet.For a 7-day pass at Great Sand Dunes National Park near Alamosa, CO, it costs $25 per vehicle. The sand arrived & still arrives here in a fascinating way -- blowing as tiny grains from a mountain range over 60 miles away with smaller pebbles from yet another nearby mountain range. There were tons of people from all over the world on 10/8/2023.I played photographer for a couple different groups. I guess I look approachable. Lol. My significant other came with us, but it was an old hat for him almost immediately. Alas, he grew up around here. My kids did not nor did they grow up in the desert. It was an amazing sight to see how high the dunes were. The runoff from the springs and surrounding mountains was long gone in the fall. At least I never saw any water whatsoever to wade around in... my family has been there in the spring when it was above their knees!I'll rent some sand boards next time for my girls. We kind of ran out of time for that. Or maybe I'll just bring large cooking pans like they did in the 1940s. Lol.A nice ranger gave my girls some Junior Ranger booklets per my request. Because he knew I was leaving the state soon, he asked if I'd like to be deputized to give them not just a badge but a patch too.Nice visitor's center with ample parking. Clean women's restroom with a baby changing station. Clean park over all too. Park rangers were pulling folks over - for what I have no idea. Pack it in, pack it out - leave no trace so future generations can enjoy this place - and especially all of the beautiful wildlife!

Love this park! Dogs are allowed on trails which is unique for a national park. Sledding is super fun. The hikes are short but lore strenuous than you'd think because of the stinky sand, but that is also the fun part! Camped here- amazing experience!

Trying to get to all the National parks and monuments in Colorado and the Great Sand Dunes National park exceeded expectations. 30 square miles of sand, some of the dunes are over 750 feet tall. Its a quirk of nature that all this sand is trapped in a triangle by the Sangre de Cristo mountains. The water flowing in the rivers/creeks is essential for the sand and sand dunes. It was winter, and so picturesque with the snow capped mountain peaks and all that sand. If you visit here, you had to want to be here, as this park is not near much else. Go up on the dunes-- must experience first hand. Consider a night visit -- dark skies mean magnificent views of our Milky Way.

What is all that sand doing there? Very suspicious ...But actually though, the Great Sand Dunes were incredible. Another total knockout on our self-led National Parks tour.- BRING WATER- Sand wheelchairs available for those who need them- Prepare for sand in your shoes ... & everywhere else, also- Even in January, we broke a major sweat on our hike - dress in layers- Each peak is deceiving - you may think you're about to finally reach the top, until you're faced with yet another sandy peakGood luck (:

This place is a little out of the way, but totally worth a trip. The dunes look like a painting. We had some storms rolling in while we were there, so we couldn't stay too long, but what we did see was breathtaking.

Definitely not your "typical" national park, but a beautiful and unique one nonetheless. We had no issues getting in and finding the trails. If we had more time, I would have loved to be at the park for sunrise and sunset. It is breathtaking and there's truly nothing like it. Also-there's a temporary visitors center currently in the parking lot of the permanent visitor's center while it is being remodeled. By the dune parking lot, there are restrooms as well as showers for getting the sand off. Unfortunately, the showers were off for the season, but I assume they will be up in running soon with the warm weather near.