Greetings from Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve

We are a roadschooling family who have been travelling the USA, living in our RV, for two years. Our boys have earned Junior Ranger badges at over 100 National Parks and Monuments, with a goal to earn them all. The one pictured is Great Sand Dunes in Colorado. We had an epic day playing in the creek and sledding down the dunes. We’re always asked which park is our favorite, but that’s an impossible decision, as each park is unique, important, and beautiful in its own right. For every park we’ve visited, we have a story. What a great country we live in!

Sincerely,
Life Riding Shotgun

Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve

How can something that is constantly shifting stand up to 750 feet tall? This southwestern park features the largest sand dunes in North America, and the key to their extraordinary height seems to lie in the combination of strong opposing winds and the presence of rivers and creeks, which capture drifting sands and redeposit them back on the dunes. Some of these remarkable hills are formations known as star dunes, molded by complex wind patterns into multi-pronged shapes, which look a bit like starfish from above.

State(s): Colorado

Established: 2004

“They hold our nation's greatest, most historic, most beautiful treasures. They remind us to slow down and appreciate our great country and all it has to offer.”

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More Stories

  • Greetings from Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve

    I visited when this used to be a National Monument and returned years later when it grew up to become a National Park. Forest, river, sand dune, mountains topped with snow capped peaks I see a natural layer cake.

  • Greetings from Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve

    Great Sand Dunes in Colorado took my breath away both figuratively and literally (we live near the Texas coast). The dunes are a true wonder with their tan soaring peaks in contrast to the surrounding jagged mountains. I love this place. It's unlike anyplace I've ever been. Driving up to…

  • Greetings from Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve

    We've visited the Great Sand Dunes over a couple of dozen times and each time provided unique experiences. Perhaps the most memorable ones included going there with my wife and kids in early June when Medano Creek pulsated with rather large waves coming from snow-melt from the Sangre de Cristo…

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