White Sands

White Sands National Park, NM

Every time I set foot on one of our National Parks, my heart swells with patriotism! I feel so freakin’ proud that our federal government has set aside these lands for protection and conservation and for us to enjoy and learn from. I rejoice every time I see the American flag waving in front of a visitor center. Amazing! I am so incredibly blessed to be on this trip – this adventure – to enjoy and indulge my right as an American citizen to plant my feet and feast my eyes on these magnificent parks.

God Bless America!

White Sands is one of those parks you don’t hear much about. It’s only recently become a National Park in the past year or so. Before that it was a National Monument. It absolutely deserves its new standing.

Approaching the park through Alamagordo, there was a hazy fog of white dust shrouding the town. The winds were high, and the temperatures were dropping. I timed my arrival to an hour and a half before sunset so I could enjoy watching the sun dip behind the dunes. This park, unique in so many ways, stays open for a few hours after sunset so parkgoers can linger in the twilight. White Sands is also awesomely dog-friendly. Ella was allowed on all the trails, to traverse the dunes off-trail, and to participate in Ranger-led activities.

There is one road through the park and several trails that lead off it. The road is paved until halfway, then it is all sand. For the first half of the drive, the topography is flat, grassy plains, but as you continue the drive, the dunes begin to make an appearance. They are low and covered in tall grass, yucca, iodinebush, and saltbush at first. As you continue the drive, the low grassy dunes give way to larger and sparser ones. It feels like driving on the beach in the panhandle of Florida.

The drive continues until the road ends in a grand loop through huge, rolling, white, fluffy dunes with no plant life. They look for all the world like snowy mountains.

The sand at this park is actually gypsum, the same thing gypsum board is made from. The trails to the dunes, packed with the footsteps of millions of visitors, look and feel just like drywall. Once you are off the path, the sand is soft and white, blinding in the sunshine. With the wind blowing, Ella and I had sand in our eyes, but we didn’t want to stop exploring. I took off my shoes, and our feet sunk into the cool softness with every step.

A favorite recreation here is sliding down the dunes on saucers. Families, children, adults, couples would slide down a big hill to cheers of onlookers, drag their saucers back to the top, and sled down again. There was a youth group from Minnesota who divided into teams and were having races. It was so much fun to watch!

Because of the high winds, there was no Ranger-led sunset walk this night. That was actually perfect for us. Ella and I explored the park on our own looking for the perfect spot to watch the sunset, and we found it. I had expected it to be very colorful, and maybe it is on other nights, but this night the sunset was a soft, glowing, and peaceful white light that grew dimmer and dimmer, until a warm, pastel haze fell over the horizon. The effect was calming and seemed to make even Ella contemplative.

One of the reasons I love National Parks is because they showcase our country’s vast array of unique landscapes, and this one is toward the top!