I have been a busy girl lately! We went to the sand dunes in Colorado after the hot springs. We stayed the night at the Hampton inn and watched the fourth of the July fireworks in Alamosa. You can also stay here: https://rusticrookresort.com/
Off we go! The distance to the dunes is deceptive. It is a loonnng walk, through super hot sand. Had the river been running this would have been an entirely different experience.
Moist sand is much easier to traverse than dry sand!
Where the river would be.
It was a lot of fun. We went in July (here's a monthly planner with conditions: https://www.nps.gov/grsa/planyourvisit/conditions-to-expect.htm )
These dunes are crazy high.
We didn't try and go up any of these. It was hard enough walking on flat dry sand.
There was no water running through the seasonal river and the sand was 140°. Do NOT wear sandals or flip flops unless you want to walk really, really slowly. I suggest shoes up to your ankles or higher to keep the hot sand away from your skin. Don't bother with socks, you will end up with sand in your shoes no matter what you wear. Do not bring your dogs into that sand. They make dog boots, but I don't know if those would be enough.
Such a biodiverse system out there!
Go to the main park building and watch the movie that explains how the dunes formed and why they are so unique and special. Look at the diorama of the unique experience that the dunes represent. Ask the Rangers if they have any interesting stories you haven't heard in the video or the displays. Step out on the patio and look through the binoculars. Go to the gift shop. My friend got a "junior ranger" sheet that has activities to complete per age range that you can turn in before you leave the park and get a pin or something. We were there several hours and couldn't complete it all. I think it's more for people camping that have all day or several days. It will keep kids busy and entertained for sure.
Link for activities at the dunes: https://www.nps.gov/grsa/planyourvisit/things2do.htm
Ideas to plan your visit : https://www.nps.gov/grsa/planyourvisit/index.htm
Greenery and mountains. There is water passing through the area from snow melt.
As you walk out towards the dunes, depending on the time of year: you will walk across a damp area of sand, or a river. I'd plan to go when the river is running. It is a unique experience. We walked out towards the dunes and eventually had to slow down because my friend and I both wore flip-flops and the sand was incredibly hot. So, since we were walking slow we started picking up pebbles and looking at them. (As a reminder you aren't supposed to take anything from national parks, even pebbles. But it kept us entertained.)
The dry sand is incredibly hard to walk across. I saw people climbing the dunes, but they must have been twenty or more years my junior. There's no way we could have done that. My mom is in her mid seventies and she was completely over the sand exploration experience after about an hour of walking. We turned around to go back and grab the subway sandwiches we'd bought (earlier, in town) and drove over to some picnic tables. I hadn't realized how far we'd walked. So we kept picking up pebbles on the way back to the car, to examine them, as we slowly made it back to the wetter area.
If you look towards the middle and to the left, most of the way up, those dark dots are people, way the heck up in the dunes.
Endless beach type sand.
In July, everything with shade has mosquitoes. Bring bug spray! We had picked up some organic spray, from my friend's temple, the day before. But, we went through the whole bottle between the four of us! It was so bad I thought I was seeing dust or Cottonwood tree cotton blowing past, but it wasn't. It was mosquitoes. Billions and billions of mosquitoes. I'm drinking a lot of hydrogen water. I don't know if that was why I didn't get bites, but I am usually a mosquito magnet.
Such a majestic view!
We sat at some picnic benches and ate our sandwiches. Filled out the junior ranger sheet. Everyone participated, so: it was a joint effort to get to be a "ranger". We enjoyed ourselves, however, we were kinda yucky from the amount of time we'd spent in the hot springs the day before and the sand hiking didn't help our overly cooked feet.
However, I would do the whole trip all over again and only change where we ate dinner in the town where we stayed overnight. We went to a Thai restaurant, because my friends are vegetarian. It was the worst Thai I've ever had.
I think I might have explored the shops, if I'd made some time for it. Downtown Alamosa reminded me of Salina, Kansas. So cute! With antique shops and touristy things. It was a great experience. I highly recommend both the dunes and the hot springs although it's quite a drive between them.
Alamosa is super cute.
Meet you out in the dunes to burn our feet and stomp through sand!
Crazy Green Thumbs
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