Great Sand Dunes Wilderness

Century after century, streams, creeks, melting snows, and flash floods brought bits of rock out of the mountains and down to the valley floor, where they became sand grains. When the sand lay exposed, southwesterly winds began the slow process of bouncing the grains toward the low curve of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, where they piled up to become the Great Sand Dunes. Reaching heights of 700 feet, these are the tallest dunes in North America, and the sight of them lying at the very foot of the snow-clad Sangres can be a bit unsettling at first. This is the only Wilderness defined as a saltbush-greasewood ecosystem, with hardy plants that include blowout grass, Indian ricegrass, scurfpea, and prairie sunflower. It is also the only place on Earth where you will find the Great Sand Dunes tiger beetle and the giant sand treader camel cricket. Kangaroo rats may be seen dancing lightly on the shifting sands, and the night awakens other denizens of the dunes. You really should stay overnight in order to appreciate the greatest wonder of the dunes: the ever-alternating colors and shadows as the sun moves across the sky and the moon rises. Designated in 1976 and managed by the National Park Service.