August 9, 2021 —
In August of 2021, Maria and I planned an elaborate and exciting road trip to Colorado. Our plan would have taken us through three national parks with plenty of time to enjoy nature’s solidarity. We had scheduled a 3-day stop in Rocky Mountain, a 2-day stop in Black Canyon of the Gunnison, and an afternoon in Great Sand Dunes. All of these parks had been high on my to-do list, so I was excited to set foot in them. Among other activities, we were slated to summit Long’s Peak and descend into the Black Canyon. It was shaping up to be a memorable, grueling, and photogenic week in the Centennial State.
When August rolled around, wildfire season was already well underway. Several states were ablaze as we began our drive west from Indianapolis. Fires covered California, Oregon, Washington, and even small parts of Colorado, among other states. With the worst of the fires on the West Coast, we figured we’d be safe, right?
Wrong.
When we finally crossed the Kansas-Colorado border on August 7th, we could barely see a mile in any direction. Smoke obscured our vision all around us and above us, casting an orange haze on our surroundings. Upon looking at current satellite images of the US, I discovered the problem. The smoke we were driving through hadn’t originated from Colorado’s small fires. Rather, shifting winds had deposited smoke from massive wildfires in California into the Rocky Mountain region. When we stepped out of Maria’s car in Denver, I knew we were in trouble. The air quality was horrendous, the sun was almost completely obscured, and webcams in RMNP showed similar conditions in the park.
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A New Plan
So, how could we salvage our vacation? To the west, it looked like Utah was in similar condition. To the north, Grand Teton and Yellowstone in Wyoming were sure to be flooded with visitors in this time of year. However, New Mexico and Texas to the south looked promising. Both states were free of wildfire smoke, and the national parks in the states had plenty of available campsites and were likely to be free of crowds thanks to the summer heat. Before long, we found our solution: we would hit the national parks of the Chihuahuan Desert. We would pay a visit to White Sands, Carlsbad Caverns, Guadalupe Mountains, and Big Bend. While I had been to two of the parks, Maria hadn’t been to any of them. More notably, she hadn’t been to Big Bend yet, and I was eager to show her one of my favorite national parks.
To the South
On the morning of August 8th, we departed Colorado’s smoky capital city and booked it south to New Mexico. The further we drove, the thinner the smoke became. When we reached Santa Fe around noon, the sky had almost completely cleared up. To make the drive more interesting, we stopped in Santa Fe National Forest and hiked to Nambe Lake. While it sits too far from White Sands for me to recommend it as a “Nearby Activity,” it was a beautiful stop nonetheless, and a hike I’d recommend to anyone driving through the area.
At 4:30 PM, we continued our journey south to Las Cruces, the city nearest to White Sands. I’d contacted an old friend from Purdue’s Aerospace Engineering program who lived in the city, and he’d graciously agreed to let us stay with him. As the sun set, Maria and I admired our mountainous surroundings on Interstate 25. The golden light used the sparse clouds and towering mountains to create majestic sights, making the drive far more interesting than the smoke-covered hills we’d driven through in the morning.
As night crept upon the road, we began spotting distant thunderstorms raging over the desert. Shortly before 9 PM, we arrived at my friend Tim’s apartment. After nearly 30 hours of driving, we had finally made it to a place that we could call “home” for a couple of days. Tim, Maria and I ate dinner together, shared stories about our young professional lives, reminisced on our time at Purdue, and headed to bed before long. Tim had to work in the morning, and Maria and I were too exhausted to want to stay up much later. Besides, we needed energy for our national park excursion the next day…
To the Dunes
On August 9th, we woke up to beautiful vistas of the desert surrounding Las Cruces. To the east, we could clearly see the Organ Mountains, and other distant peaks dotted the landscape elsewhere. After eating breakfast, we started the day by exploring a remote slot canyon north of the city. As far as we could tell, the trail through the canyon is not officially maintained by any organization. However, enough locals – including Tim – seemed to know about it and AllTrails had a listing for it, so we felt comfortable embarking on the brief hike.
At around 11:30, we began the drive from the slot canyon to White Sands National Park. The approach to the park from Las Cruces was impressive. From the city, we moved eastward as we gradually climbed up US Highway 70. The Organ Mountains grew larger and began to loom over us. After about 15 miles, we crossed the crest of the hill we’d been ascending – known as San Augustin Pass – and were suddenly greeted by endless views of the Chihuahuan Desert on the other side. Immediately, our ascent ceased and – having reached the other side of the pass – we began descending from the Organ Mountains. A few minutes later, we rounded another hill and spotted the gypsum sand dunes of White Sands to the northeast. We’d made it.
From there, the approach took another 20 minutes. We passed several signs notifying us of the US Army’s White Sands Missile Range that surrounds the park. Missile tests are a common occurrence in the area, and the roadside signage reminded us of this fact.
We pulled into the visitor center’s parking lot at 12:30 PM. The moment we stepped out of the car, we realized how ungodly hot it was outside. At nearly 100 degrees, only the craziest and most desperate visitors would dare explore the park. We fell into the latter category.
At the visitor center, we took care of our usual park-business. This included stamping our national park passport, buying a souvenir, chatting with a ranger, and reading the exhibits on display. And – most importantly – I got my obligatory photo with the park’s sign.
After our stop at the visitor center, we hopped into the car and began venturing into the dunes. It wasn’t long before the white sand dunes completely surrounded the road we were on, and it was stunning. All we could see around us was white, with sparse vegetation scattered among the landscape. The dunes were even more beautiful than they looked in photos. Maria and I gazed at our surroundings with open mouths, blown away by their natural beauty.
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Once we parked at our first hiking stop, we discovered the downside of that otherworldly beauty. Maria’s tinted car windows shielded us from most of the harsh light that the dunes generated. Upon stepping out of the car, however, we were blindsided – literally – by the sand. The blazing desert sun’s light beating upon the sand created an effect more severe than that of a fresh snowfall on a sunny winter day. My sunglasses – a cheap $15 pair acquired at a gas station the day before – could barely cope with the effect.
As determined national park-ers, however, Maria and I were not going to let the blinding dunes stop us. So, we marched out onto the dunes equipped with our sunscreen and sunglasses while squinting as hard as we could. Our first stop was the Dune Life Nature Trail, which was a misleading title on the hot and sunny day that we visited. Most of the “life” described on the trail’s informative signs is nocturnal, so we just saw plenty more sand.
After our quick stop on the Nature Trail, we returned to the car to seek refuge from the harsh sunlight. We continued our trek down the so-called “Dune Drive,” which took us deeper into the gypsum dunefield. As we ventured further into the park, the sand dunes became increasingly pristine. We noticed less vegetation, and the horizon became a sea of white – and almost only white – all around us.
Once we reached the northernmost terminus of the road, we ventured out onto the Alkali Flat Trail. Attempting the trail’s full 5-mile loop in the intense heat would have been dangerous, so we decided to use the trailhead area as our site for the park’s most popular activity… sledding!
We spent about 45 minutes – as long as we could last under the hot summer sun – using a pair of boards/sleds that Tim let us borrow to repeatedly descend a particularly high sand dune. Maria and I each had to spend some time adjusting to the boards, but once we did, we started having some fun. The wind in our face cooled us down every time we sped across the sand, increasing our motivation to continue. Eventually, climbing the steep slope tired us out and enduring the heat wore us down, so we returned to the car. But, we didn’t leave without first getting some videos of the action.
After hitting the slopes, we drove the car to the Backcountry Camping Trail, our last stop of the trip. As with the Alkali Flat Trail, we decided against attempting the full 2-mile loop. But, we ventured out as far into the dunes as we felt comfortable, snapping some more photos of the blinding sands.
When we returned to the car at 3 PM, we each spent several minutes trying to rid our bodies of sand. Unsurprisingly, our trudges up and down dunes, our falls from the sandboards, and our decision to sit in the sand on several occasions meant that we were covered in the gypsum sand. We were also covered in sweat, meaning the sand clung to us firmly. Even after we showered at Tim’s apartment later that evening, we still found sand in our ears, on our clothes, and behind our knees.
In Conclusion…
White Sands National Park delivers exactly what its name suggests: white sand, and lots of it. The gypsum sand dunes that cover the park are fascinating and beautiful, even if they can be hard to look at directly. Check out this NPS article if you want to learn more about the park’s geological history and the dunes’ formation.
While White Sands is great to look at, there’s not a ton for the average national park enthusiast to do. If you visit in the hot summer months, you’ll likely – like us – be satisfied with only a few hours in the park. The park’s longer hikes are brutal under the hot sun… you will exhaust your sunscreen supply quickly if you spend too much time soaking up its rays. If you visit in the cooler months, you might find more enjoyment in the park: camping in the backcountry and watching the park’s sunrise and/or sunset would be a great way to spend your visit.
Even though it was short stop, White Sands National Park undeniably left an impression on me and Maria. Throughout the rest of our road trip, we frequently reflected on the park’s beautiful landscape. Maria sang praises about the park many times, noting how unique it was compared to the others we saw on the trip. If you ever want to visit White Sands from afar, consider combining it with a trip to other national parks in the Chihuahuan Desert. If you do, you will visit some of the most remote places in the 48 states, creating memorable experiences far from the hustle and bustle of the modern world.
Whatever you do, however, I recommend checking out White Sands. It’s one of those places that you have to see for yourself, as photos don’t do it justice. It’s beautiful, wild, and scenic, and it will definitely leave an imprint on your memories.
— Paul
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