2024 Road Trip - Great Sand Dunes National Park

2024 Road Trip - Great Sand Dunes Gunnison National Park

Great Sand Dunes National Park is Colorado's newest national park and contains the tallest sand dunes in North America rising up to 750 feet. Due to the shifting nature of the dunes there are no main trails to hike so it's open ended on where to go. We rented a sandboard and sled and tried sliding down one of the smaller dunes. We all struggled with the sandboard except for Lily who shredded down the dune like a pro. After a couple hours of fun on the sand we returned to the car. It was a unique and interesting experience, but easily the shortest park visit we had ever done.

On the way out of the park Rachel, Vivian and I did a short hike to Zapata Falls. It was a crowded hike to a waterfall hidden in a grotto. The last part of the hike had to be forged up a creek. My Tevas did fine, but Rachel had to walk the stony creek barefoot. Somehow Vivian was able to traverse to rocky edge in her slides.

The best part of our stay were the two nights we spent a an Airbnb cabin in Blanca. The cabin was at an off the grid alpaca farm in the middle of nowhere. It was a cozy cabin and great place to just relax and have some down time. The kids enjoyed meeting the animals on the farm and the owners also gave us a brief tour.