| What is it? |
White Sands National Monument (now National Park, as of December 20, 2019) is a vast, white expanse of gypsum sand dunes! |
| What makes it beautiful? |
Find a spot to pull off the road and head off into the dunes. Each one creates its own mini world, hidden from the rest. Should you be here during the low season, it will be as though you’ve found your own lost world of patient yuccas amid the windswept waves of blindingly white gypsum sand!
Once you’re there, this is a park for frolic! The visitor center will let you rent sand discs to careen and cavort up and down the sides of these towering dunes! Weather permitting, you’re in for a treat! |
| How can I Help the Helpers? |
HERE’S HOW:
- Pay the entrance fee to help maintain trails, signs, structures, and other visitor services!
- Volunteer at White Sands National Park!
- Donate to White Sands National Park!
- Be a responsible visitor! Remember the old adages: Pack out what you pack in! Take nothing but pictures and leave nothing but footprints!
|
| Where is this place? |
19955 U.S. 70
Alamogordo, NM 88310
From Albuquerque: ~226mi (364km) — 3.8hrs
From Las Cruces: ~52mi (84km) — 0.9hrs
From Roswell: ~132mi (213km) — 2.2hrs
From Santa Fe: ~233mi (375km) — 3.9hrs |
| When should I go? |
This park has very irregular hours, due to weather and missile testing at the nearby White Sands Missile Range. Check their Operating Hours page for the latest information! Also, from experience, if you’re approaching from the east and you see a huge cloud of dust rising over the dunes, try saving this monument for another day, unless you really like being sandblasted! |
|
