You are here

Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve

Photography In The National Parks: Great Sand Dunes In Winter

Picture-perfect Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in Colorado is filled with contradictions and superlatives: North America’s tallest sand dunes surrounded on three sides by the broad, windswept San Luis Valley, with a backside snuggled against the rugged, snowcapped Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Winter is a great time to visit with your camera.

Planning And Preparing For A National Park Trip

Nowadays, a visit to a unit of the National Park System requires at least a minimal amount of planning and preparation. Whether you fly, drive, cruise, or ride the rails, planning your park travel ensures a much more enjoyable stay. Contributing photographer and writer Rebecca Latson shares her own planning and preparation routine for a safe and enjoyable park visit.

Three Winter Days At Great Sand Dunes National Park And Preserve

There’s something to be said for spending a few winter days at Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in Colorado. Crowds are non-existent and there’s plenty of solitude. Despite the season, there’s plenty to do and see for three days’-worth of activities and contributing photographer Rebecca Latson writes about her own February trip to this park.

The Arrival Of Blue Hour Over Great Sand Dunes National Park And Preserve

"Blue hour" is a term given to that time prior to sunrise and just after sunset, when the sky and landscape are bathed in swaths of blue, purple, pink, and mauve. During that time (which really doesn't last an hour - more like a few minutes), you might even see the atmospheric phenomenon known as the "belt of Venus," a line of deep blue and dark pink parallel to the horizon. A great place to view sunrise, sunset, and blue hour is at a pullout immediately after the turnoff from Colorado State Highway 150 onto Lane 6 N toward Mosca.

Rebecca Latson
bootstrap

Sunlight And Shadow, Great Sand Dunes National Park And Preserve

If you bring along your camera (and you should), you can capture not only wide-angle shots of this national park, but also telephoto close-ups of the sinuous sand dunes. Early morning or later in the afternoon are great times to capture light and shadows to give the dunes some depth. Telephoto shots bring the viewer closer to these sand dunes for a better look. You might even want to include people in some of your shots, allowing your viewer a better idea of just how large and tall these sand dunes are in addition to adding a little familiar reference.

Rebecca Latson
bootstrap

The View At The Top Of A Dune Ridge, Great Sand Dunes National Park And Preserve

Whatever season you visit this national park, a must-do activity is to hike up to the top of a dune. The sand is velvety soft, but still takes a little effort to climb. An easy way to hike up to the top of a dune is to switchback your way up. Once you are at the top, following the dune ridge is the easiest way to continue onward, and from the ridge top, you have a broad view around the park.

Rebecca Latson
bootstrap

A View Of Great Sand Dunes National Park And Preserve From San Luis Lakes State Wildlife Area

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.

Rebecca Latson
bootstrap

The View From A Tall Sand Dune, Great Sand Dunes National Park And Preserve

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.

Rebecca Latson
bootstrap

The Essential RVing Guide

The Essential RVing Guide to the National Parks

The National Parks RVing Guide, aka the Essential RVing Guide To The National Parks, is the definitive guide for RVers seeking information on campgrounds in the National Park System where they can park their rigs. It's available for free for both iPhones and Android models.

This app is packed with RVing specific details on more than 250 campgrounds in more than 70 parks.

You'll also find stories about RVing in the parks, some tips if you've just recently turned into an RVer, and some planning suggestions. A bonus that wasn't in the previous eBook or PDF versions of this guide are feeds of Traveler content: you'll find our latest stories as well as our most recent podcasts just a click away.

So whether you have an iPhone or an Android, download this app and start exploring the campgrounds in the National Park System where you can park your rig.