Today we traded our hiking boots for bare feet and sleds on our visit to White Sands National Park. The initial arrival to the park is a bit underwhelming, don’t let it fool you, the further in you go the more impressive it gets. As we drove further into the park the dunes got bigger and less crowded. At the end of the 8 mile loop road it is pristine white dunes as far as you can see. We initially planned to do a couple short hikes, but ditched that idea because the boys were having so much fun sledding and playing on the dunes! Unlike other sand dunes we’ve visited, the sand here is soft, sparkling white (literally), and remarkably cool to the touch. We had heard and read that White Sands could be a 1-3 hour park, however, our boys could have stayed there all day! We were there in March, so the temperatures were mild. We almost skipped this park because we had done sand dunes before and they were hot and exhausting. If you do one sand dune visit, definitely make it at White Sands!
Sledding / What to Bring
If you plan to sled the dunes bring a plastic saucer sled with you. You can buy one at Walmart for $5, and they sell them in the gift shop for around $18. Plus you won’t have to wait in line to buy one upon arrival. If you plan to spend the day, think of it as packing for the beach plus a sled! There’s no shade! Pack a 10×10 canopy to make your home base for the day.
If you’re interested in the Junior Ranger program definitely print it out in advance, you find it on the White Sands National Park website. Your kids can complete some pages ahead of time and not have to do the whole thing there. They’re going to want to be sledding those dunes!
Stay for Sunset!
Plan a picnic dinner and stay through sunset, it was so unique and beautiful! The dust from the dunes intensifies the sunset spreading the beautiful colors across the sky. They do close the park, so pay attention to the closure time.
We were surprised on our drive back to our Airbnb through the mountains east of White Sands, it’s a completely different climate up there in Cloudcroft, NM. It would be a unique place to stay, with the chance to see lots of wildlife. We saw about ten elk on our drive, including the biggest bull elk we’ve ever seen!
Best time to visit:
I would definitely recommend visiting in Spring or Fall, summer temperatures can reach the high 90s and would make the experience less enjoyable.
Where we stayed:
We did a day trip from Carlsbad, NM because we also visited Carlsbad Caverns NP and Guadalupe Mountains NP. It was a three-hour drive from Carlsbad, so definitely stay closer if you’re just doing White Sands. Cloudcroft looked like a cool high country town nearby.
