Last summer, four of my kids and I visited White Sands National Monument, which was just designated an official national park in December 2019. It’s located just a few miles outside of Alamogordo, New Mexico and is an incredible, never-forget, kind of experience! It was one of the stops on our Grand Canyon road trip and definitely one of our favorites! We learned a few things while we were there and I thought I’d share some tips if you’re adding White Sands National Monument to your travel bucket list!
White Sands National Monument is the world’s largest gypsum dune field and one of the most beautiful things I’ve seen. It’s breathtaking to see nothing but white sand dunes as far as the eye can see.
It’s an incredible sight and truly one giant playground.
How to Get To White Sands National Park
Getting to the area is easy. We used google maps and had no difficulty finding it. The area is well marked and sits right next to a major freeway. As you’re arriving, you’ll see small sand dunes next to the highway. Don’t be disappointed! That sneak peek is nothing compared to what awaits you as you drive further in to the park.
Entry to White Sands National Monument
There are two different centers as you enter the park, an educational type visitor’s center right at the start and a gift shop a little further down. You can stop at both of those places before you enter the actual park.
You will have to pay to enter the park but if you have a fourth grader, like we did, entry is free as part of the free pass available to all fourth graders in the United States.
You can drive on roads throughout the park and stop at designated parking areas. The roadways are often covered in sand but it’s easy to navigate around the roadways.
Even if you only have an hour to stop, I would highly recommend doing it. You can easily do some sledding, walk on a boardwalk or two, and experience the majesty of the sand dunes in a short amount of time.
Sledding at White Sands National Monument
Sledding down the sand dunes was the thing we were most looking forward to and it did NOT disappoint! We all laughed so hard, had a blast, and left with some pretty hilarious wipe-outs caught on camera.
Round sleds will give you the best ride. We bought our sleds online {affiliate link for a three pack of round saucer sleds} but you can also buy them in the gift shop for a very similar price.
I’m super type A and read that the gift shop can run out of sleds so I wasn’t taking any chances, especially since that was the whole reason we were visiting.
We did stop in the gift shop to buy wax for the sleds and I highly recommend that. The wax is really cheap and helps the sleds fly down the sand.
The steepest dunes are the best for sledding and that means you’ll need to walk in a bit from the parking areas. We tried sledding down smaller dunes but it was tricky and not a lot of fun. Walking about five to ten minutes in to steep dunes was worth every step. We flew down that sand and it was a blast!
What to Wear to White Sands National Monument
We were visiting the dunes at the beginning of June and temperatures were expected to hit a hundred degrees. I was pretty sure we’d melt since a hundred degrees in Texas is almost unbearable. That wasn’t the case for us at all. We found the dry heat completely bearable, the sand was cool under our feet, and we hardly ever broke a sweat. I imagine it’s a whole lot hotter in the middle of summer but don’t be discouraged by hot temperatures.
Sand, especially where it’s not packed down, can be difficult to walk through. Most of us opted to wear flip flops that we could easily shake out and wash later.
Shirts and shorts are perfect and the less layers the better. It’s just easier to have less clothing for sand to get trapped in.
Don’t forget hats, sunglasses {the sun shining off that white sand is bright!}, and plenty of sunscreen. We put sunscreen on about thirty minutes before we arrived so it would be fully dry and in full effect.
Obviously, you will be sandy afterwards. We were less covered in sand than I thought we would be but still felt a bit dirty and dusty. I planned our stop on the way in to Las Cruces so that we had a hotel to go to right after where we could shower and change. If you’re planning to travel right after you stop at the monument, you may want to hit up a gas station where you can wash up a bit and change into a new outfit.
Walking and Hiking at White Sands National Monument
If sledding isn’t your thing, or even if it is but you have extra time, there are lots of opportunities to hike and walk.
There are boardwalks set up in certain areas which make it easy to wander and look at foliage and spot the creatures that live among the dunes but you can also walk and hike through the sand dunes.
Be careful with directions! Once you’re in the middle of the dunes, it’s really easy to understand how people get lost in a desert. There aren’t a lot of markings to use as guides and it’s easy to get turned around.
What to Bring
I already mentioned sleds, sunglasses, sunscreen, and hats, but I would also recommend bringing a bag for the sandy clothes, even if you’re going to be stopping at a hotel that day. Having a separate bag to toss sandy clothes into will keep all that mess out of the suitcase and all the clean clothes!
Where to Stay
White Sands National Monument is very close to Alamogordo, New Mexico, and that’s an easy stop for a night but we opted to go a bit further to Las Cruces, New New Mexico, and we were so glad we did! Las Cruces is a really great little city, we loved the hotel we stayed at {you can check it out on the Grand Canyon road trip post}, and the selection of restaurants was excellent. It’s about an hour past the monument but, for us, it was worth the drive.
Visiting White Sands National Monument was a highlight of our road trip and a day full of fun memories. The beauty is incredible, the sledding is a blast, and, if you’ve never been, a visit is a must!
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