*as seen in North Canton Living Magazine September 2024
I drove the narrow winding road leaving the desert and entering a white wall of sand. The dunes towered above me with their grains blowing in a constant river of white across the road. The brilliant blue cloudless sky met the white in a glare that confounded the senses. Ahead of me was a long line of bicycles and behind me the traffic crawled as I negotiated the blind curves. Suddenly the road opened in the center of the dunefield into a large picnic area with covered picnic tables and surrounded by 5-story high dunes. I sat and enjoyed my lunch while watching families sled down the hills on white sand in the landlocked state of New Mexico.
White Sands National Park is outside of Alamogordo, New Mexico, and fifty miles from Las Cruces, NM. In the heart of the Tularosa Basin, these moving dunes are the world’s largest gypsum dune field. The dunes move several feet a year with the constant wind from the nearby San Andres Mountains.
The interdune boardwalk is near the front of the park with a wheelchair-accessible ramp that allows the visitor to see the transition from the edge of the dunes up and over to the middle of a dune. A valuable way to see the wildlife and plants without disturbing the environment.
Once deep in the dunes, the most popular activity is sledding. As long as you don’t tread on plant life, you are welcome to climb a dune and sled down. Sleds are for sale at the park gift shop and in the nearby town of Alamogordo. I watched all ages sled down the hills with their laughter ringing through the dunes.
The visitor center and museum presented a fascinating look at the history of the area. Within the past few years, archaeologists found a set of fossilized human footprints. Carbon dating of the ancient grass seeds found above and below the footprints found them to be more than 21,000 years old.
What I Learned
White Sands National Park is next door to the White Sands Missile Range a key location for the Manhattan Project.
White Sands is a popular site for filming from Pink Floyd music videos to major motion pictures like Transformers. Footprints of ice age saber-toothed cats have been found at White Sands.
On July 16, 1945, the world’s first atomic bomb was detonated at the missile range approximately sixty miles from the park.
Before You Go
Please check the website for park closures. The park can be closed several times a week to accommodate the missile range.
The park can be cold in the winter and blisteringly hot in the summer. Despite either condition, suntan lotion and sunglasses are a must! The glare from the dunes and the arid desert air make for sunburn conditions.
While the road and most trails are level, the dunes are difficult to climb. The interdune boardwalk is completely handicapped accessible but other trails are more difficult.
This is easily a day trip or one-day visit – arrive when they open and plan to have lunch at many of the covered picnic tables. There is no running water inside the dune field. There are clean porta-potties but no fresh water facilities. It is recommended that you carry one gallon of water per person per day. I did not listen and was grateful the gift shop carried water – expensive – but still water. Remember to pack out what you pack in.
The wind can be brutal and constant. The gypsum will swirl and may aggravate an individual with asthma or breathing conditions. Wear a mask if needed or at a minimum a scarf over the nose and mouth.
Nearby Alamogordo is a lovely old New Mexico town with a small zoo perfect for young children. There are many quality hotels and Airbnb.
While there visit the Farmer’s Market at Las Cruces – the oldest in the country. Also, visit Three Rivers Petroglyph Site where you can view more than 12 thousand petroglyphs in one easy and fun hike.