White Sands National Park is located in Southwestern New Mexico about 50 miles North of Las Cruces, or about 90 miles from El Paso, Texas. It is a collection of white dunes made of gypsum sand. The color of the sand has contributed to the evolution of several white subspecies of animal that are only found here. These include the Bleached Earless Lizard, Apache Pocket Mouse, Sand Wolf Spider, Sand-Treaded Camel Cricket, and several types of moth.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see any of these critters! I did, however, get to enjoy a rain shower on the dunes as the monsoon season was being ushered in.
After taking a drive through the dunes and playing in the sand, I took a walk on the interdune boardwalk. The boardwalk is an accessible trail that is 0.4 miles long round trip. If you can’t (or don’t want to) walk directly through the sand, this is a great option to enjoy the the beauty of the dunes.
It’s easy to see where the dunes start because of how white they are, but there’s a surprising amount of vegetation among the sand. Some of the higher dunes are completely bare with the lower areas having the majority of the plant life.
The Interdune Boardwalk was host to many pretty wild flowers. This is also where you’re most likely to see some lizards, particularly in the morning before it gets too hot.
If you visit White Sands National Park, make sure to bring plenty of water! In the summer months it can get very hot and there is no water available past the visitor center. There are several areas you can sit to picnic as well as multiple restrooms available.
You can witness the beauty right from your car (but obviously I think you should get out at least for a moment). If you do choose to hike the dunes, the sand tends to be on the firmer side. Everyone was really nice, too, from the people in the gift shops to the people at the entrance gate.
I really enjoyed White Sands National Park and when you visit, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did! I can’t wait to go back and go lizard-spotting! I’d love to hear about any cool experiences you’ve had at White Sands National Park so share them down below.
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