There is some white sand on the floor mats in our car. It is also in the hatchback where the dogs rode after our day walking the trails and climbing the incredible dunes at White Sands National Park. We’re not ready to clean it out yet. It reminds us of our beautiful day exploring at the park.
The weather was perfect the day we drove from our campsite at Fort Bliss RV Park in El Paso, Texas, to the White Sands Monument in New Mexico. The monument is about 15 miles southwest of Alamogordo, New Mexico, and about 93 miles from our site.
We left around midmorning, stopped at Holloman Air Force base outside of Alamogordo, New Mexico, for a quick lunch, and arrived at the Visitors’ Center a little before 1:30 pm.
Constructed in the 1930s as a depression-era job creation project, the visitor center complex has been designated a national historic district.
The Pueblo Revival-style center features a garden with native plants of the Chihuahuan desert.
The Dune Life Nature Trail
After checking in at the center, we drove to the Dunes Trail entrance station, paid our entrance fees ($5.00 each), and started our drive.
A little over 2 miles into the dunes, we stopped at the Dune Life Nature Trail – a one-mile self-guided loop trail through the dunes with information on the animal life in the area. This area of the dunes also has abundant plant life. The dogs were ready to stretch their legs and check out all the new smells in the sand.
Here is a sampling of the plants we saw as we walked along the nature trail:
Interdune Boardwalk
We continued along Dunes Trail to our next stop – the Interdune Boardwalk.
The boardwalk is fully accessible and just under a half-mile round trip. There are interactive areas along the trail with great information about the gypsum dunes and plant and animal life.
The dogs weren’t too thrilled with the boardwalk and wanted to get back on the sand.
Heart of the Sand
Shortly after we resumed our drive, the pavement ended, and we were driving on the SAND.
I double-checked the map and that is what it showed. End of Pavement. The white dunes rose up on either side of the road.
We soon entered the Heart of the Sands loop. After stopping several times to check out places noted on the map, we drove through the two picnic areas to get pictures of the ‘sailboat’ tables.
There are several parking areas and restrooms on Dune Drive.
We continued through the loop, stopping several times to get out, walk up the dunes and take in the beauty. We also watched people sliding down the dunes on sleds. It looked like fun but wasn’t something we had planned to do.
We saw different messages written in the sand by other visitors, so we added a message of our own.
White Sands Sunset
As sunset approached, we headed to the meeting place for the Sunset Stroll. We hadn’t planned on taking the stroll; however, we knew it was a good location to see the sun setting.
We parked in a small cleared area, did more exploring, and waited for the sunset. Max and Sadie were enjoying their time outside as well.
People climbed the dunes and prepared to photograph the sunset.
After the sunset, we headed back to El Paso. We had run out of snacks for the dogs, and they were getting hungry.
If you would like more information on White Sands National Park, check out their website. White Sands National Monument
For more pictures from our day on the dunes, check out this photo album on Photography by Andreas Facebook page.
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