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There's a large parking area just before taking the Medano Pass Primitive Road in Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. From there, you can look southwest beyond the dunefield and across the broad San Luis Valley toward the distant San Juan Mountains.
If you are interested in the geology of Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, a great place to view the overall geologic system of the park is from San Luis Lakes State Wildlife Area just off of Lane 6 N, almost halfway between the community of Mosca and the turnoff onto Colorado State Highway 150 toward the park. From this vantage point, you can see all four primary components of the Great Sand Dunes geological system: mountain watershed, dunefield, sand sheet, and sabkha.
Hike to the top of any sand dune within this national park and you've got a great view of the land below and beyond. In this image, you see the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to the east, with the flat, snow-covered flat expanse of land below where Medano Creek will flow during spring and summer. Look closely enough and you might even be able to see the trail in the snow created by hikers leaving the parking area and heading toward the dunefield.
There are four primary components to the Great Sand Dunes geological system: mountain watershed, dunefield, sand sheet, and sabkha. To read more about this, click here.
How many of you have hiked the dunes at Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve and noticed black patches or black ripples in the otherwise beige palette of the soft sand? What you are seeing are black magnetite grains in the sand. Magnetite is magnetic, and if you place a magnet on the sand, you'll pick up clumps of black magnetite grains. For real, and not an April Fool's joke! Cool, right?
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Here’s the definitive guide to National Park System campgrounds where RVers can park their rigs.
Our app is packed with RVing- specific details on more than 250 campgrounds in more than 70 national parks.
You’ll also find stories about RVing in the parks, tips helpful if you’ve just recently become an RVer, and useful planning suggestions.
