After a wonderful experience on the sand dunes in the Mojave Preserve, we were super excited to explore White Sands National Park in New Mexico. The dunes at White Sands were quite different than those in the Mojave as they aren’t made of sand in the traditional sense; they are almost pure gypsum, which is a white, water soluble mineral. About 11,000 years ago, after an ice age, the climate began to warm and water carried gypsum from the surrounding mountains into this basin, creating a field of incredible gypsum dunes (the largest such dune field in the world).

White Sands is a perfect park to explore as a stop on a larger tour of New Mexico, and arguably, it’s the most fun National Park for children (and adults) of all ages – you’ll see why in the next section.  Because the park is relatively compact, we were able to fill a half day with memorable experiences right after landing in the area!

Sledding at White Sands National Park

Our first stop on our trip as we entered the park was the visitor center and gift shop. This is the last place to fill up water, and also (importantly), the only place to rent or buy a sled on the way into the park! Many iconic images of White Sands are of people sledding down the dunes. This is quite novel because the hills look like snow, but you can have fun sledding without needing any winter gear! You can either buy a new sled for $25 or “rent” one (you pay $25 to get the sled, and then get $10 back when you return it). Since we weren’t going to get back to the gift shop in time to return the sled before it closed at 5PM, we opted to buy one outright, along with the $3 wax that you need to apply to the bottom to help the sled move down the slopes quickly.

You can sled anywhere you can walk out along the dunes, including along the Alkalai Flat Trail. We both tried sledding down multiple dunes and it was quite fun, especially on steeper slopes! You basically just sit in the disc, lean back, and either cross your legs or put your feet out in front of you. The latter is a good idea if you want to control your speed: to slow down, you just need to gently lower your feet to act like brakes. The gypsum sand is also pretty soft, and so the couple of times Vijay fell out, it didn’t put a major dent in the day :). Watch out to make sure you don’t hit any vegetation or risk sledding out onto the road.

When we were done, we came across a family that didn’t have a sled and gave it to them, and the $25 got put to good use! Sledding is one of the main reasons we think that this park is the most fun for kids. We saw lots of kids being super motivated to hike because they were able to find cool new spots to sled, all while they and their parents and guardians got to take in the incredible views.

Driving Along Dunes Drive at White Sands National Park

Dunes Drive is the main artery through the park. Slowly, the black asphalt turns white as it is covered in layers of gypsum! The road was easy to drive in our little Toyota Corolla, and the gypsum didn’t seem to affect the traction much when it was dry. The road takes about 15 minutes to drive end-to-end, and there there are several pull-outs and parking spots as you go (including a loop at the end) where you can take in views of the dunes and walk out onto a trail. Note that part of the Dunes Drive is a no-stopping zone because of a recent airplane crash (an air force base and missile range border the park). This also means that the interdune boardwalk, the main accessible trail in the park, is temporarily closed.

Hiking in White Sands National Park

The park has multiple hiking trails, but we decided to do the Alkalai Flat trail at the far end of Dunes Drive since we had limited time to explore. This area has the widest views of the dune field with the least vegetation, and it is reasonably well marked with red posts. As other bloggers have mentioned, you can basically walk out as far as you want along the trail and create your own path between the markers; the further you go, the fewer footprints there will be.

The park website says that you need to allocate ~3 hours for the trail; however, we were able to complete the hike by cutting off a small segment at the end where the dunes get smaller in about 2 hours (including lots of sledding). Our favorite part of this hike was seeing the undulations in the dunes, with rounded edges falling off along steep cliffs depending on the wind direction.

Watching the Sunset at White Sands National Park

The sunsets from just about anywhere in the park would be spectacular, with the mountains to the east turning red and the sand glowing yellow in the waning light. We drove to a point called the “sunset stroll meeting spot” – this has actually moved a bit north from where Google maps shows it, but you should be able to just follow the signs. A ranger leads a guided tour here starting at 4, but we got back from our hike a little later and so wandered out onto the sand here, as many others had done. The views in the setting sun were just spectacular.

Key Information

• El Paso Airport in Texas is the closest major airport to White Sands (about 1.5 hours drive), while Albuquerque Airport is about 3.25 hours away. We landed around 11AM and were at White Sands in our rental car by 2PM, giving us just enough time to hit the trail, go sledding, and see the sunset!
• Alamagordo is the nearest city with lots of hotel options (20 minutes from the park). We’ve heard from friends that Las Cruces, which is also home to New Mexico State College, is also a cool place to stay that is not too far away (51 minutes away).
• You need to have a pass to enter the park. The park sells National Park Passes and White Sands entry passes at the main gate along Dunes Drive. When we arrived, the gate was unattended, so many cars were waiting to purchase a pass. This is why we strongly advise to grab a parks pass in advance, even before you travel (you can get one at many federal park sites and visitor centers, as well as REI and LL Bean, for example). If you visit a couple of the parks in New Mexico and Texas, the pass will almost pay for itself in one trip!
• Fall is the best season for visiting White Sands National Park. Summer can get too hot, winter can be wet, and spring can be windy, according to the park website.
• Late in the day is a wonderful time to visit the park, as the sand turns from brilliant white to glowing orange in the sunset. The main road through the park, Dunes Drive, closes 30 minutes after sunset. This means that that you should try to be done on the dunes around sunset time so you can drive out of the park on time.
• Note that the park is sometimes closed because of nearby missile testing activity at White Sands missile range. Check this page for more information.
• Ideally, to really see the contrast with the sand, you should aim to visit on a clear day or on a day with interesting clouds in a blue sky, which can really light up at sunset.
• Walking on the dunes is probably easiest in hiking sandals (like Tevas or Xero sandals). Some blogs advise going barefoot; however, be careful because the sand can get very hot or cold depending on the time of year or day, and gypsum can irritate the skin with prolonged exposure!
• Bring plenty of water, a wind jacket, and a good hiking app (like AllTrails with an offline map) along with you. Although the park’s trails are relatively short, because of the shifting sand, you can sometimes lose track of the trail!

That’s about all for our trip to White Sands National Park! We’d love to hear your feedback – what are some of your favorite activities in this part of New Mexico?