Great Sand Dunes of Southern Coloroda

As we made our way from Colorado Springs to Albuquerque New Mexico where we had rented a Condo in the down town area we came across a sign that pointed out a National Park. We  then redirected out GPS and we ended up at the Great Sand Dunes National Park . We were elated that we had taken this out of the way excursion.

The Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve was established in 2004 by President Obama. It is to protect the entire natural system of the Great Sand Dunes and their high elevation watersheds. The Sand dunes itself is over 755 ft high at the highest point and is only a part of the whole National Park there at Mosca CO. The Great Sand Dunes Preserve is approx. 41000 acres of the total 149000 acres with in the Great Sand Dunes boundaries, and contains ecosystems ranging from mixed conifers forests to alpine tundra, up to 13000 ft in elevation in the mountain range within the National Park.

There is a visitors center where one can spend a considerable amount of time learning about the Park. Activities available Range from hiking (at all levels) to sand boarding, fishing, backing packing, lodging,  camping  and just exploring nature. For more information about the Great Sand Dunes one can go to the website http://www.nps.gov/grsa.

Some of our pictures are as follows.

Long range view as we approached the large Sand Dunes

The Medano River that begins high in the Mt and carries  sand particles down and deposits then in the valley

People hiking on the Sand Dune