Hiking the Great Sand Dunes National Park

The Great Sand Dunes National Park gets its attention overridden because of all the the other majestic National Parks out there. When places like Yosemite and Yellowstone exists, no one seems to think about the Great Sand Dunes. Now I’m not going to say I think the Sand Dunes is the greatest National Park in the world, but it is a beautiful. Everyone sees mountains. You can see them all over the place. But how many opportunities does one get when looking at mountains and sand dunes at the same time? Not many.

This National Park has quite the diversity. You can go up mountains, climb up sand dunes, play in the river right along the sand dunes. Yes, there are rivers along the sand dunes! It’s pretty wild. And….. you can bring a special sand dune sled, climb up the sand dunes and slide down it. It’s pretty cool. A few people were doing this. You see the kids playing and sliding down the sand dunes like its winter time on a big hill with snow. You can bring dogs too. And there are no trails up these sand dunes. There are trails around it at the base but not going up the sand dunes. It is all natural and preserved, so its still very aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Not covered up with signs and trails. Nothing wrong with that, but its nice that the parks keep at least some places completely preserved. 🙂

Many National Parks have a significantly long drive to get to the places of interest. Not this one. As soon as you enter the park, there’s the visitor center and then Bam! It pretty much starts. I would recommend bringing an SUV, Jeep or Truck here. A car will do, you just won’t be able to drive far into the park. I attempted it, I must say. I drove to the point of no return. Ohhhhh man! With my little Chevy Cruise, that’s a lease I must add, through rivers, up on sand dune banks, through pot holes, rivets, you name it. Definitely a bumpy ride! There was this one point where there was an SUV going the opposite direction so I tried to pull off over on the side to let them pass, but the pull over part was up this sand dune. My car was probably one degree away from flipping over. When the SUV passed, the guy said, “you might want to back up, because if you go any farther, you might tip.” It was quite an adventure I must say.

So I pulled over to the point of no return, and hiked it the rest of the way to the river, and up the sand dunes I went. Up and up and up and up I go. And it was hot! Like 100 degrees hot! When I was going up, I started to get really sick. I just thought it was exhaustion. People don’t have to do this hike. I was only one of a very small few who did it. While I was hiking to the top, I saw maybe three people doing the same thing. Most people just enjoy looking at the view, but no, I had to go to the top and it was an almost regrettable decision. Walking at the beach is hard enough with each step being three times the effort than just walking on the level ground. Now imagine up a sand dune. Every step you take you slide halfway back down. It can be a grueling experience but I’m stubborn so of coarse I made it. 😉 Anyway, by the time I got down, I was completely and utterly exhausted.

Now this is funny! I reach the trail, and now I still have to hike up to my car. I’m literally dragging!!! Head down almost to the point of my legs. This was the first stop of my National Park and hiking extravaganza this summer so I’m pretty out of shape. I see a Jeep approaching, look to see who is driving and there is this sweet old cute couple behind the wheel. Now I have never done this before, but here it goes.

“Excuse me, can you please give me a ride up to my car. I’m so exhausted!”

“We would love to but we have a two seater Jeep and me and my husband are both sitting in them and the dogs are in the back. Do you think you can hold on to the outside of the jeep?”

“Oh heck yeah I can!”

So I put my feet on the outside of their Jeep, stuck my head in the window, grabbed the “Oh Shit” handle and we went, off-roading! Where we were driving, was past the point of no return so this drive was fun!!! And bumpy! The older couple were great. They were so friendly and talked with me the entire time. They said they pulled over because I looked incredibly tired. Then they continued to say it’s probably altitude sickness. They said I was up probably up 8,000 to 9,000 feet of elevation. I had no idea! I mean I’m in Colorado so that was my fault I guess…

Well that makes sense why I felt so sick. I got altitude sickness. I was literally on top of the sand dune, keeling over because I felt like I was going to throw up. It was an intense hike first of all and I just came from Buffalo, NY. Totally not accustomed to the elevation. Anyway, the incredibly nice and accommodating couple dropped me off at my car, ate my dinner for lunch because I was so hungry and went on my merry way. All I could think of leaving that experience was the people were just so friendly and that was my first time I every hitch-hiked, and that was an experience that I will never forget! Thank-you sweet old couple in the green Jeep!

Oh, and of coarse the drive all around the area is just majestic. The drive alone is worth going there. East Colorado not so much, but as soon as you hit the mid-section in Colorado, damn!!!!!!! I’ve been to Alaska and I’m overwhelmed by the beauty. Colorado just have a gorgeous landscape.

Some of the photos I took of the National Park and heading there.