The Great Sand Dunes National Park in Fall

A distant view of the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in Colorado as we drove up to visit them. They are the highest sand dunes in North America and quite an amazing sight to see!  The dune field encompasses 30 square miles (7.77 square meters) and at its highest is 750 feet (228.6 meters). This was our second visit to see them since moving to Colorado. Our first visit was in Spring and this visit was in Fall, both wonderful times of the year to view the dunes. My first blog post about our drive to see them in 2016 and our first impressions can be read on this link.  My part two blog post about our attempt to climb up a dune and also a video of the sound of the wind that was blowing across the dunes can be read on this link.

The dunes and surrounding area were designated a National Monument in 1932. In the year 2000, United States President Bill Clinton signed the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve Act. The federal government purchased 97,000 acres of the Baca Ranch which tripled the size of the park and preserved the land and water drainage for future generations to enjoy.

Earlier, we had hiked to the top of nearby Zapata Falls --click here--to read that blog post, so it was already close to the closing hour of the visitor center, but we stopped in anyway.

There are wonderful panoramic views of the sand dunes from the visitor's center back porch.

The dunes are believed to be 440,000 years old in the high-elevation desert of the San Luis Valley at 7,694 feet (2,345 meters).  The dunes were formed by the right combinations of wind, water, and sediment. Creeks and streams brought large amounts of sediment and sand into the valley.  The wind then blew the sand toward the bend in the Sangre de Christo Mountains, where opposing storm winds helped squeeze the sand into the tall dunes seen today.  

Please click on the photo above to enlarge it.

We were surprised to see Medano Creek, which runs in front of the sand dunes was still running even though it was October.  In spring snow melt from the Sangre de Cristo Mountains makes this creek run strong 

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If you look at this YouTube--click here--from the National Park service you can see how the creek looks in spring--it actually has waves!

The size of the people standing in front of the dunes gives a better perspective as to how enormous they are!  Often visitors rent special sandboards from local vendors and slide down the dunes. You can learn more about that on this link.

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They are truly a wonder!

Recently, exciting news was announced that The United States Department of the Interior and The Nature Conservancy announced that TNC’s nearby Medano-Zapata Ranch will transfer 9,362 acres of land to the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve.

As we drove out of the park the slant of the setting sun gave the dunes a pretty golden glow,

We were happy to have seen them again!

 

My husband and I were staying in the town of Alamosa that night--it is about 30 minutes away from the Great Sand Dunes National Park and we had dinner at a newly opened Italian-style restaurant called The Friar's Fork that I read about in the Colorado Magazine 5280 at this link.  The husband and wife owners had worked for many top restaurants and resorts and wanted to open their own place. They found a deconsecrated 1926 Episcopalian church that had been empty for a couple of years, bought it, and renovated it into a restaurant and cafe. Our meal was so delicious!  I had the Chicken Marsala and my husband had a special, Beef Osso Bucco.  It was the perfect early anniversary celebration for us!

The next day we were headed south to the town of Antonito, where we had a reservation to take a ride on the Cumbres and Toltec Railroad, called by USA Today Magazine "The Best Train Ride in America".  I will blog about that train ride next week.

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