Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, where the tall dunes reach the mountains.

Did you know that Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve has the tallest dunes in North America? Star Dune rises 750 feet from its base to its crest, and the “High Dune” on the first ridge rises 699 feet from its base (source: https://www.nps.gov/grsa/learn/nature/sanddunes.htm).

This national park features beautiful snow-capped mountains (during winter and spring), gigantic dunes, a desert valley with creeks flowing on the surface of the sand, and a wonderful day and night sky. Undoubtedly, this is a place where you find solace in nature. In addition, this national park has the photo perfect view as none of my photos are edited yet; it looks unreal, right?

We spend 18 hours in Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. This itinerary is based on the availability of time in the park.

Lodging:

We stayed in Great Sand dunes lodge, which is within a 10-minute drive to the visitor center. Most of the rooms have excellent dune views. They also have complimentary breakfast, a private propane BBQ grill in the backyard, and exceptional service.

The restaurant has been closed since a pandemic for a major renovation. The only restaurant available nearby is 40 minutes away from the national park. If you are planning to stay there, please consider bringing food to the hotel; they have both a microwave and refrigerator in the rooms.

Hiking:

•High dunes loop trail: (3.4 miles, moderate) round trip.

We hiked the high dunes loop trail, which was a worthwhile trip to experience a dunes hike. We started hiking at 6:30 am, with sunrise expected at 6:42 am. Watching the reflection of the sun rays slowly touching the dunes was the most memorable part of our trip. It took us around 3.5 hours to complete the loop. Please consider hiking early in the morning to beat the heat, and it also tends to get windy towards the day.

•Montville nature trail (0.5 miles, easy) and Wellington Ditch trail (1.8 miles):

These two trails are connected, so we mentioned them under the same list. Wellington ditch trail ends at Pinion Flats Campground. It offers a great view of the entire dune and mountain landscapes.

Zapata falls trail (0.9 miles, easy):  It is located outside the national park, but it’s on the way (around 4 miles off-road detour). This waterfall is frozen this time (April) of the year, and that’s why it’s more beautiful. Check out this waterfall if you’re planning to visit the national park.

If you have more time, here are some other hiking trails:

•High and Star loop trail (8.0 miles, hard)- The tallest dunes of North America.

•Mosca Pass trail (6.4 miles, moderate)

•Upper Sand Creek Lake trail (7.4 miles, hard)

Please refer to the ranger to know about the road and trail conditions. As it is situated above 10,000 ft from sea level, the road might be affected due to the seasonal closure, and you may need additional hiking gears (microspikes, hiking poles) to attempt the hike

Sunrise and Sunset watching We could not watch the sunrise coming out of the mountains, but the reflection of sun rays on the sand dunes and mountains was unique. We watched a beautiful sunset from the hotel’s backyard. Sunset can be viewed from the national park sign area as well.