After Colorado Springs, our next extended stop was Santa Fe, NM, but to get there we needed to stay over at one waypoint. MFI had identified some options, but frankly the potential parks sounded sketchy. Kristi Hartman suggested we take a slightly different route and spend time in Mosca, CO near the Great Sand Dunes National Park. We googled the park and were hooked instantly.
We camped at the Great Sand Dunes Oasis RV Park in Mosca, CO, only four miles from the park entrance and my trail head. This aging park only had 20 sites, all lined in a row facing west. We saw several other Airstreams there, but they didn’t stay as long as us. Oriented the way we were and at 8,000 feet, this allowed us to see brilliant sunsets and all the weather headed our direction.
Before visiting, we did our research first on what caused and created this beautiful, unique National Park and Preserve. Of course, it all began way back in geological history. About 440,000 years ago, an inland lake called Lake Alamosa existed between the Sangre De Cristo Mountains to the east and the San Juan Mountains to the west. The valley between, now called San Luis Valley, was largely sand after the lake dried as a result of ancient climate change. Over tens of thousands of years, the prevailing southwest winds blew the sand up against the Sangre Cristo Mountains. Mountain forests along the north and east of today’s dune location had grown into the valley and was part of what stabilized the dunes. Another stabilizing factor was the periodic northeasterly winds blowing through three mountain passes in the eastern range. All these factors and conditions formed the Great Sand Dunes we know today. They were designated a National Monument in 1937 and a National Park and Preserve in 2004. The park includes 107,342 acres, and the preserve protects an additional 41,686 acres. The dunes cover 30 square miles and are estimated to contain 1.2 cubic miles or 5 billion cubic meters of sand. Reasons behind the creation of the National Park and Preserve were uncontrolled gold mining and the threat of concrete mixing plants. The park is visited annually by about 525,000 people.
We stopped at the Visitor Center before my hike. It was geared largely for school-aged children, but we learned some interesting facts as well. The dunes are the tallest in North America with the highest being Star Dune at 755 feet, and the second highest being High Dune at 650 feet. These measurements each depend on which source you’re quoting, and therefore, I found they varied wildly albeit it within a small range. Sand dunes come in five basic shapes: crescentic, linear, star, dome, and parabolic, and all types exist in the park. We saw a display which spoke to the consistency of the dunes over time. There was a black and white photo from 120 years ago that depicted a dune skyline as it were, and when compared to a picture taken today, they appear almost identical. Hence the factors discussed earlier on stability.
Kristi said she and the boys had hiked the dunes during their visit. High Dune seems to get the majority of the hiking traffic, so that was my goal. She also mentioned that her boys had rented boards for surfing the dunes. This struck me badly, as I only thought of surf boards wearing down the dunes and damaging the park. However, surfing and sledding the dunes is a big money maker and reportedly causes no environmental harm. The RV park store and restaurant also had a rental shop for the boards and sledding discs, such as those we all used as kids. We ate breakest at the park restaurant, and there was already a line of 30-40 thrill seekers renting equipment.
We parked next to the trail head. MFI stayed in the truck with her knitting and a book, and she was conveniently near public restrooms. Immediately after the start of the trail, hikers must cross Medano Creek. Its flow is highly dependent on the snow melt, so at this time of year it was about a 100 yards wide and only 0-6 inches deep. If you wanted to fording it and stay dry, then that was easy depending on where you stepped. Once across, there was another 30 yards of dry creek bed (see video below). I saw many kids with their parents, and few got across the creek without soaked clothing. A lot of families were congregating several hundred yards beyond the creek. Kids all seemed to be having a blast, while the parents dried the wet clothes and came to terms with not going any further up the dunes.
I took a significant number of scenic or unique dune photos.
My AllTrails app showed a very distinct trail to High Dune summit; however once I starting climbing, there were no trail markings, and the dunes were already covered with a confusing array of heavily tracked paths to go up. Like so many before me, I followed the ones which seemed to be headed to High Dune. I was able to observe a number of sand boarders, but I noticed quickly that few were actually surfing the dunes. Most people sat atop the dune they wanted to surf with their rented board stuck in the sand beside them. A young couple on a small dune near the bottom were beginner boarders who allowed me to film them
On my way down, I tried to video some actual sand surfers but found the pickings quite slim. What I did capture was a sampling of what most techniques and lack of styles looked like.
The weather was perfect for such a strenuous trek. The distance covered was approximately 2.5 miles, and it took about 90 minutes to complete. Running down was really fun. I ran into my beginner surfers on the way down. They were quick to remind me how much better they had gotten since I passed them earlier. Of all the boarders I saw, these two seem the best at getting their monies worth. On our second day during breakfast in the restaurant, I noticed this window stencil next to our table.. I thought it summed up my experience perfectly.
Kristi had also recommended we hike up to see Zapata Falls. We had passed the sign directing us there several times, so we finally pulled into the roadside parking lot to read the welcoming board. Because the trail round trip was only a mile, MFI agreed to hike it with me.
Approximately 2 million years ago, glaciers were forming the Sangre Cristo Mountains and created a rock barrier. As the glaciers melted several thousand years ago, runoff water carved through the weakest point in the rock barrier. This runoff created Zapata Falls, which includes a single drop of 30 feet. We had to cross the Zapata Creek downstream several times before getting close enough to hear and ultimately see the falls.
MFI crossed the creek a third time so she could return to a seat nearby, watch others attempt to see the falls, and maintain her dryness. I made a final crossing to enter the rock cut and get close enough for a picture of the falls. At this lower flow time of year, it wasn’t as spectacular as advertised.
We met a couple on the Zapata Falls Trail who suggested we climb up a side trail for a great view of the San Luis Valley. MFI was rested when I came back from the falls, so we trekked up the side trail for the view.
There was a sense of awe seeing the vast extent of the valley and the sand dunes. The valley is 8,000 square miles and averages an elevation of 7,664 feet. It was settled by native Ute, mexicans, and eventually the Spanish well before the 19th century. After the Spanish American War, treaties were drawn up to preserve native lands and prevent white settlement. However, the treaties were subsequently violated when white settlers arrived anyway. This caused two violent conflicts between the Ute and US Army, and ultimately the Ute tribes were removed from the valley to a Utah reservation. Yet another North American example of whites displacing natives from land they had settled for centuries. Quite the sour note to end our visit to the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve.
