White Sands National Park: A Great Day Trip to add to this southwest area!

Current Ranking: 18/19 visited

White Sands National park was established rather recently (2019) and is a great lower tier national park to add to your list. Nature has a very interesting way of showing its beauty and this is definitely an example of unique views. I have seen quite a few dunes in my lifetime and seeing the blinding whiteness of these dunes makes this a unique place to visit. Although, I would not recommend you travel long distances for JUST this park but it definitely warrants a stop on a swouthwestern trip of the Texas/New Mexico area!

We have been to this National park more than literally any National Park (as of 2023) so far due to its convenience and entertainment, but this park is very limited in what it has to offer. First and foremost it is aptly named, this Park is pretty much exclusively hiking on dunes of white sands. Although this park boasts a 5 mile trail, the only benefit of it would be to get away from the relatively small crowding that occurs in the easily accessed dunes. Alkali Flats (the 5 mile trail) allows you to see the edge of the dunes and gives you a chance to hike up dozens of sand dunes on the way if you are looking for a challenge in this National Park.

Pretty much everything White Sands provides can be done in a day and this is a good thing because this park is one of the few that does close in the evening. Check the website for your specific time of the year for hours of the operation before you go. This place is also out of the way from most places to stay. about 40 minutes from Alamogordo and 1 hour away from Las Cruses the closest cities to white sands. This National Park is a convenient drive from El Paso which is where we lived and became a fun place to spend a day with people visiting.

Specially during the weekend, you will definitely see plenty of people coming to visit for photography session in the area for engagements, pregnancy and family photos, and for good reason. These beautiful White dunes next to dark mountains and blue skies make for an amazing backdrop for photographers. This park is also pretty high on the pet friendly list as well!. Pets are supposed to be leashed at all times, but this cuties was able to get his own dune space to run around on. Our pets absolutely love this place which is another reason for our many visits.

I would have loved the opportunity to visit for a full moon hike while in the area but the tickets are very difficult to get and are only available for 1 day per month with only 50 spots available. If you have a chance to get these, I would highly recommend this option. Definitely a park worth visiting but make sure you are not travelling JUST to visit this park. This is a great one to add to area National Park Trip with Guadalupe Mountains, Carlsbad Caverns and if you have time Big Bend.