Great Sand Dunes NP - Dunes Overlook + Medano Creek hike

On the second day of our stay in the Great Sand Dunes NP we went for a hike to the Dunes Overlook in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. We parked our car at the Pinyon Flats campground and from there we took the Dunes Overlook Trail to the viewpoint from which there were great views of the dunes and also nearby mountains.

Most hikers take the same route back to their car, but we decided to extend our hike and turn it into a 6-mile loop. To do that first we took the Sand Ramp Trail to the "Point of No Return". There we cut across the shrub field to the Medano Creek, and we hiked back to our car along (or rather in) the creek. It was a very pleasant hike that I would strongly recommend to anybody. Views were great all along our way, and hiking in the creek was lots of fun!

From the Dunes Overlook we could see dunes that we hiked a day earlier, as well as the Medano Creek in which we played:




During our hike we encountered lots of deers, seemingly surprised to see any human beings there:




We also saw some nice blooming cacti:


At the Point of No Return we started cutting our way to the Medano Creek:


And then we hiked back to the car in the creek:











This little bird was guarding our car while we were away:


Practical info:
The campground in the park is small and fills up quickly (especially on the weekend). Half of the sites can be booked online (at the NPS booking site), and the other half are "first-come, first-served". We tried to get one of the latter, but we were too late for that. Luckily, there is a private campground just before the park's entrance that has lots of camping spaces. You would have to have a really bad luck not to get a spot there even if you arrive late in the park. This campground also has warm showers, so in a way it is even better than the park's campground.

Other posts about the Great Sand Dunes NP.

Great Sand Dunes NP - The High Dune hike

One of the highlights of our honeymoon was a visit to the Great Sand Dunes NP. Even though I had high expectations before going to this park, it still managed to exceed them!

You have to agree that seeing dunes and snow-capped mountains at the same location sounds awesome. Now add to that a creek that has waves and you get a full picture of how amazing the Great Sand Dunes NP is. It is like being on the beach and in the mountains at the same time. I guess that's why the park is so popular with families with small kids.

Water in the creek is usually pretty warm, even during winter, as the creek is shallow and, therefore, sun can warm it up quickly. Kids and adults alike love to splash in the stream as it has waves created by mounds of sand that form and fall in the creek bed. That creates water surges, similar to the action of waves at a beach. Beware that creek is a seasonal phenomenon and might be non-existent during warm summer months.

Kids, dogs, adults - everybody loves to play in the Medano Creek:


Playing in the dunes is also lots of fun!


Here I am rolling down the dune:


And here is Anil sliding down on his ass... :)


After splashing for a bit in the creek we went for a hike to "The High Dune" (198 m/650 ft), which is actually not the highest dune in the park. It is called "high" as it appears the highest from the parking lot...


Hiking in the sand is hard, but the views are so great that it is worth the effort:






After around 1.5h we made it to the top of the dune:


Going down was much faster as we could slide, roll or run down :)




A word of advice: If you go hiking in the dunefiled, wear closed shoes as sand can get unbearably hot!

Other posts about the Great Sand Dunes NP.

Great Sand Dunes NP - sunset

The weather got pretty bad on the second day of our stay at the Grand Sand Dunes NP, and because of that we were almost ready to leave the park a day earlier. But then the park is so beautiful that we decided to stay there despite the approaching storm.

Hiking in the dunes during the thunderstorm is dangerous, so instead we went for a ride. We got rewarded with this beautiful double rainbow:


After a ride we went to watch sunset over dunes. Unfortunately, there were so many clouds that we could not see the sun:


Instead we saw a big group of deer eating dinner:


The views of the dunes from our campground were also amazing:


Other posts about the Great Sand Dunes NP.