Great San Dunes, Colorado

Blame it on my living under a rock ways but I hadn’t heard of this place until this year when I happened upon a photo of it while I was searching if it was legal to own a camel in the US… I’m kidding, I found it on Pinterest.

We rolled in around 10am on a Wednesday. With not much more than a handful of retirees scattered around the parking lot, it felt like we had the place to ourselves. After about twenty minutes of waiting on Alex to find the GoPro… we started the long walk to the base of the dunes.

The next couple hours were spent sand boarding. We were told it was similar to wake boarding but it was more like trying to steer yourself down a hill while standing on a trashcan lid. Which as it turns out, is really freaking fun. Naturally, Alex was really good at it whereas I was not.... so I mostly just sat in the warm sand and took photos of him.

You can rent sand boards at The Great Sand Dunes Casias right outside the park gates for $20 and they give you a chunk of wax that apparently makes for a smoother ride.

We recommend this spot because the women here were absolutely amazing. They even stayed open late so we could return the board without paying an extra fee.

It took some time getting use to walking in the deep sand and the first hour was so windy I thought my camera was going to get sand damage. So we booked it back to the van for some reinforcements. I ditched my nice camera for an old one I keep "just in case". (I'm sure glad I did because that "just in case" camera won't even turn on now... insert major eye roll here)

And then we decided to go to the very top for those SICK VIEWS... and what came next was the HARDEST hike of my life.

Now, what was the hardest hike in my life may be a piece of cake to you (it sure looked like it was to the rest of the retirees having the time of their life passing us).

The top peak sits at 750ft in height. Which doesn't sound like much until you start to climb through never ending amounts of sand. Thirty minutes into the hike we knew we weren't prepared, not to mention it was a windy day with gusts up to 50 mph. Once we reached the top though, we realized that the 3 mile hike was worth every step.

The vastness of the area was shocking and we highly recommend this place if you are in the area. It makes for a unique day trip, sure to leave you with sand between your teeth.

Here are some more photos of the day>>>

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If you are looking for a place to park for the night:

We drove about ten miles to "Zapata Falls" camp ground. Beware the road up the mountain to this spot is the worst road we have yet to find ourselves on. It would probably be fine for an suv (and a jeep would make easy work of it) but our van felt like a shaking washing machine as we crawled up it at 5mph.

We paid $6.50 to park for the night, a 50% discount because we have an annual National Park Pass.

We enjoyed one of the best sunsets of the trip here.

And finally, I leave you with this... my favorite photo of the day. Alex's first attempt down the hill. I'm still laughing.