Camping in the Great Sand Dunes
Updated: Dec 12, 2022
The first time that I visited Great Sand Dunes National Park was in January of 2017. I had recently gotten into visiting the national parks and so when I scored a last minute flight to Denver for MLK weekend, I decided to visit some of Colorado’s. After a quick romp through the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs (highly recommend!), I made my way down to Great Sand Dunes National Park, arriving about an hour before sunset. Pulling into the park, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. For those who aren’t familiar with this park located in Southeastern Colorado, it is most famous for its massive sand dunes that seemingly arise out of nowhere, strikingly out of place against the backdrop of the snow-capped Sangre de Cristo mountains.
There’s a lot still to learn about how the tallest sand dunes in America formed, but like many geological phenomena, it is a story of fire, wind, and water. The area’s two mountain ranges, the Sangre de Cristos and the San Juans, were created through the uplifting of a large plate of the Earth’s surface and through volcanic activity. The uplifting of these mountain ranges created what is now known as the San Luis Valley. Sediment from the mountains in addition to water from rain and melting glaciers began to settle in this valley, creating a large lake called Lake Alamosa. This lake eventually receded, leaving behind several smaller lakes. With climate change, these lakes also began to disappear, leaving behind the massive sand sheet that had deposited there after the creation of the two mountain ranges. This sand sheet began to grow vertically due to opposing wind forces: the predominant winds blowing from the valley towards the mountains, and storm winds blowing from the mountains towards the valley. The two creeks in the area help recycle the sand by carrying it from the mountain side around to the valley floor.
After snapping a few pictures at the overlooks, I stopped at the visitor center to obtain a free backcountry permit to camp among the dunes. While filling out the forms, the ranger told me that despite the current good weather, they were predicting an ice storm overnight and recommended against camping. I assured him that I was more than prepared with my gear and promised that I would turn back if things got too sketchy. Spoiler alert: it did. After enjoying a hastily prepared meal of ramen, I strapped on my pack and made my way towards the sand dunes. After about an hour of post-holing my way through the snow-covered valley and seemingly not any closer to the dunes than when I started, I made the decision to turn around. The temperature was dropping fast, night had already fallen, and I had promised my parents that I wouldn’t do anything stupid. Despite the failed attempt of sleeping among the sand dunes, I was treated to perhaps the most spectacular night hike of my life. Even though the moon was bright enough to not need a headlamp, the number of stars I was able to see was jaw dropping. I genuinely stopped every five minutes to look up, mouth agape, at seemingly millions of twinkling stars. In all my previous camping experiences I had never seen such a night sky. I may or may not have teared up. After arriving back to the car, I resolved to return to this park to more fully experience it.
Flashforward to August 2019, I was able to revisit the park on another road trip through Colorado. This time I was able to attend the park’s celebration of becoming an official International Dark Sky Park. A volunteer ranger gave a spectacular presentation on how a place becomes a dark sky park and how these principles can help reduce light pollution throughout the country. They also had several telescopes that park visitors could look through. I was able to see Saturn’s rings through one of them which was so special!
The next afternoon, I filled out my backcountry permit, relieved to hear that there would be no ice storms that night. The trek from the overnight parking lot out to the base of the dunes was much easier now that it wasn’t covered in snow. But the hardest part was yet to come. The park requires backpackers to camp over the first “ridge” of sand so that they cannot be seen from the park road. This requires about a mile hike up and over approximately 700 feet of sand. Now if you’ve ever climbed a hill of sand, you understand what I mean when I say that it was two steps forward, one step back. Even as someone who was regularly running half marathons at the time, I still had to stop frequently to catch my breath!
Once I finally made it over, I watched the last of the sunset and then began setting up my tent. This was a challenge as stakes don’t work on sand. To keep your tent in one spot, you have to fill up bags with sand to serve as weights (I used my tent and sleeping bag stuff sacks). As someone camping alone, it was rather difficult to keep ahold of the tent while simultaneously filling up the bags with sand! Once that was done, I dragged my sleeping bag out onto the sand and nestled in for a stargazing experience that was even more spectacular than the last. With the Dark Sky celebration being held on a new moon, the stars shone even more brightly. To see the Milky Way stretch across the entire sky is an experience that not enough people get to have nowadays.
I awoke just as the sun was beginning to lighten the sky, enjoying the absolute quietness and stillness found among the dunes. With so few people camping up there and with how vast the dune fields are, I could hear the wind moving around the top layer of sand. Sunrise is perhaps the best time to explore the dunes; I really enjoyed watching as the sun casted its light and created new shadows among the dunes. I finally forced myself back down the dunes (much easier than going up, that’s for sure), not wanting to bake as the sun climbed higher and higher. Covered in sand, slightly sunburnt, and calves aching, I laughed as I ran down, knowing that this was a park I would keep coming back to.
Great Sand Dunes is one of those places that often gets overlooked in favor of nearby parks such as Rocky Mountain National Park. But it remains as one of my favorite parks because of the unique experiences that it offers. In addition to the pure fun provided by running or sledding down the sand dunes, the stargazing is simply unparalleled. Sadly, most of the US population is unable to see the Milky Way from their homes due to extreme light pollution. This park brought to light the cultural and even biological significance of being able to see the stars and provided several suggestions for ways that we as individuals can reduce our own impact on the night sky. I highly recommend that you check out the park’s website regarding this, and of course, add this park to your list!
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