When the hubby said he wanted to go down through Las Cruces on our way to Arizona, I was like we are stopping at White Sands National Park. We are literally driving by it. Since he is not really into the whole National Park thing like I am, I try not to go out of the way to see one. If it is a quick detour, I will add it to the list. Like I said, we were literally going to drive right by it. We had to stop.
White Sands National Park is located about 30 minutes south of Alamogordo on US 70 or about an hour east of Las Cruces. It is open daily 7:00 AM to Sunset. The visitor center was open 9-5 when we were there. It is $25/car (4 adults) to visit unless you have a National Park Pass. You can actually visit the visitor center without going into the park.
We got to the park around 4:30 and had to be out of there by 6:10. I knew we weren't going to be there that long. I wish did have more time (and a less grumpy husband) as the sunset at White Sands is supposed to be spectacular.
After checking out the small visitor center, we drove into the park. I had plans to drive to Roadrunner Picnic Area and then sled down the dunes there. Those are the beginner hills. Technically you can sled any where in the park but I figured a beginner hill was perfect. However, the hubby found the Playa Boardwalk Trail and parking area first. You can buy a sled at the visitor center for $20. PistachioLand was selling them I saw. I asked Carly if I could borrow her sled. She said I could. I did not buy the $3 wax either. I was taking my chances.
We parked at the boardwalk and was happy to see people attempting to sled. I grabbed Carly's sled that I lugged all the way from Wisconsin despite the hubby giving me crazy looks. We walked down the boardwalk a bit. Then I crawled through the rails of the boardwalk and headed towards a short dune.
I forgot how difficult climbing sand dunes really is. I left my flip flops at the bottom of the dune. Yes, I had flip flops/sandals on again when climbs sand dunes. Not sure I will ever learn. It least the sand wasn't hot. Even though the dune was maybe 10-20 feet high, it was tough trudge up the hill. The hubby said I sunk into the sand which I did.
Once I got to the top, I found a clear path to the bottom that would not result me running into a plant. The people we saw sledding were having a hard time sledding with their round, plastic saucers. I was a bit concerned but I didn't need to be even without the wax. Carly's sled worked great and if we weren't short on time and the hike up the dune wasn't labor intensive, I would have gone down again.
We headed back to the car and headed out the park. We saw plenty of dunes on the short drive from the visitor's center to the boardwalk. I would have loved to keep driving the loop but it is about a 8 mile loop that can take a good 1-2 hours. Obviously we didn't have that much time.
The hubby said he would have loved to see a missile launch as White Sands National Park is on the edg of an Army Missile range. They actually close the park and US 70 when they do missile testing. White Sands Missile Range was one of the sites of the atomic bombing tests during WWII.
Despite our short visit, White Sands is a gorgeous park that you can easily do in a day. There are hiking trails from various parking lots and plenty of sand to sled down. Just remember to bring plenty of water as you are in a desert with little water. Hopefully we will come back and explore more of the park some day.
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