Great Sand Dunes National Park was very enjoyable for our children. They did not remember hiking sand dunes before so it was a good experience for them.

It had rained the day before so the dunes were just drying off when we got there. Make sure you arrive early as the sand will get very hot in the summer.

As we drove in, the side of the road was parked full and people were walking a long way in. We groaned because with a large RV you just won’t fit in any small space. We drove in anyway and we were delighted to find that there was a park ranger keeping the cars from parking in the RV spots. That was the first park out of the 10 that we visited that the cars didn’t just park in RV spots. I wanted to give that park ranger a special thank you but he was busy escorting someone out when we left.

Make sure you take water and also take sleds. You can rent sleds, boards, and dune wheel chairs at the visitors center. It looked like lots of fun to sled down the dunes.

As you walk into the dunes you need to cross the Medano creek. It felt so good to the feet to walk through the cold water.

It was fun to climb the dunes and then run down them as fast as you could. You had a soft landing if you fell.

This was another park that the children wished that we could have stayed longer. It has America’s tallest dunes. So the Great Sand Dunes national park is a great big sandbox to explore.