After spending a perfect night and morning camping in the North Crestone campground (full post here), we were so excited to hit the road and head to the Great Sand Dunes National Park for our first ever adventure in sand sledding!
The Sand Dunes were quite close to our campground, but because of the mountains, the drive was still about an hour away. The views along the drive did not disappoint though.
It was a beautiful morning for some good old fashion Colorado exploring.
As you approach the park, sight of the Sand Dunes looks oddly out of place, as they are nestled tightly between the rugged peaks of Crestone and the colorful Colorado planes. Definitely not something you would ever expect to see, but beautiful nonetheless.
Upon arrival, the views are even more spectacular and jaw-dropping than you could imagine.
For sand sledding, regular snow sleds are not recommended (they offer sand boards for rent instead). But because we like to save money where we can (and challenges don’t scare us 😉 ), we brought our own snow sled anyways.
While we didn’t go lightening fast, it was still one of the funnest ways we could think of to explore and experience the grandeur of the sand dunes there.
Allen sledding down the first dune we came to…he had such a blast! Just look at that grin from ear to ear!
The only con to sledding down the steepest dunes was that you also had to climb back up them. The struggle! But it was definitely worth it.
And then back down again you go! Over and over again.
And a quick word to the wise, dress for warmer temperatures than you expect! Not only does the act of climbing up sand dunes work up a sweat, but the sand also reflects a lot of the Sun’s heat and warms you up from below. (I was definitely over-dressed for the occasion…you can see my rolled up pants and jacket tied around my waist in the pictures below.)
Once getting over the first few sand dunes, we finally reached the top of the largest sand dune. And the views did not disappoint. It was inexplicably spectacular.
Along our hike, we also liked finding virgin edges and watching how the sand became striated and groomed by the wind. It’s amazing to think that the sand dunes are constantly changing and will never look the same from one moment to the next. Another visitor on another day would experience something completely unique and new from what we were seeing.
At times we would stop just to watch the rippling effect of sand sliding down the dunes. It was quite mesmerizing.
Love exploring new and fascinating places with this guy! He’s my favorite.
Just a boy and his sled…
One of my favorite parts of exploring the Sand Dunes was finding these virigin areas, untouched by footprints. It’s so cool to think that you’re the first one to walk there that day. Imagine being one of the first people ever to walk here as an explorer hundreds of years ago…
My turn! I finally decided to try it out for myself. (The video, which isn’t included here, is hilarious! Especially the epic crash at the end! 😛 )
Another fun activity was finding foot prints of little critters in the sand and trying to imagine what kind of animal they were and what their life looked like out here in the sand.
I wonder what these prints were (below)…a bird or a little mouse-like animal? What do you think?
From a distance the sand looks so uniform and homogeneous. But up close, it’s as diverse and unique as humankind itself.
Here Allen was pretending he was in the world of Dune, where you have to walk in a funny, non-uniform pattern to confuse the sand worms and keep them from eating you. Haha!
Climbing up the last hill before heading back down. Loved how peaceful and quite it was out here, away from the crowds.
After spending some quiet time and inner contemplation at the top of the last hill, we headed back down.
After a day full of climbing sand hills and sledding down, we were ready for some food. So we jumped in the car and headed back toward Boulder.
We planned to stop at a little pizza place in Buena Vista, but could’t wait…especially after seeing this giant ice cream cone sign.
So we stopped for a couple chocolate road malts for the rest of our drive toward pizza. It only made sense, right?!
Allen double-fisting. I’m sensing he must’ve like it. 😉
Finally made it to Eddyline Brewery for pizza! There’s nothing quite like a full day of adventuring to really work up an appetite.
We started off by splitting a pumpkin beer and then went full-force into our BBQ chicken pizza and Garlic Artichoke pizza. So. Good!
After dinner, we got back in the car to continue our drive home into the sunset. It was the perfect ending to a perfect day spent exploring Great Sand Dunes National Park!
What about you? Would you ever go sand sledding?
You might also like…Hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park and Skiing in Breckenridge, CO.
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Get the Look…
Pull-Over: Under Armour (half-zip, full-zip) | Pants: Eddie Bauer | Socks: SmartWool | Shoes: Merrell
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