Summer will see 70-80 degree (F) days and 40 degree (F) evenings. The Sand Dunes typically see 20-30 degree (F) higher and minus temperatures during the winter. The weather at the Great Sand Dunes National Park is often dry and warm during the summertime and colder during the winter months. Photography Tricks and Tips Weather at the Sand Dunes
Sandboarding and sand-sledding at the Great Sand Dunes National Park is a highlight for many families! Several retail outlets offer sand sled rentals and sandboard rentals including Oasis Store (outside park entrance), which rents equipment from spring to early fall, Kristi Mountain Sports in Alamosa (35 miles from the park on US 160 West) which is open year-round and the Sand Dunes Recreation & Hot Springs Pool near Hooper (35 miles from the park on CO 17 North), also open year-round. If you’re up to the challenge, you can hike the Star Dune, which is the tallest dune in North America, bring lots of water and be ready to get your feet sandy! A wonderful hiking trip includes the Mosca Pass, where you can get great views and hear the wildlife all around you. With a little more time, you may want to look into the summer programs and events, especially at the amphitheater. We recommend checking out the dune field from the main Dunes Parking Area, where you can explore Medano Creek, sand sled down the dunes, or begin planning a 4WD tour through the dunes. Start your day at The Great Sand Dunes with a visit to the visitor center to watch a short film on the history of the dunes, see exhibits showing the unique formation of the great sand dunes, and get a lay of the land from local park rangers.
How late does bus run to pikes peak parking at dia series#
There are many events from May through September including the Summer Concert Series and Junior Ranger Day programs. Consult the official Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve website for information on fees and camping reservations. The Great Sand Dunes National Park is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Learn more about how the sand dunes were formed here. Between 20, the Great Sand Dunes National Monument was given National Park and Preserve status, and it remains one of Southwest Colorado's most beloved natural attractions even today. Partly because of these deep connections, and partly because of the long history of the Great Sand Dunes in the Southwestern expansion of the United States, they were given National monument status by President Herbert Hoover in 1932. From Native American traditions from the Navajo, Apache and Ute Tribes, to European and American settlers and homesteaders, these sand dunes have provided home and wonder to many groups over the centuries. Many people have passed through, over and around the Colorado Great Sand Dunes for thousands of years (the oldest evidence of human inhabitants on the dunes dates back nearly 11,000 years), and there has always been a deep connection felt by those who've visited. This constant movement of sand by wind and water help to preserve the Great Sand Dunes National Park, as well as their standing as the tallest sand dunes in North America. The Medano and Sand Creeks, two close mountain streams, drag sand from the mountainside of the great sand dunes and carry it around to recycle it on the valley floor. The predominant southwest winds blowing toward a low curve in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains helped form Colorado’s Great Sand Dunes, and they still do today. Recent scientific research suggests that the Great Sand Dunes in Colorado began forming around 440,000 years ago, after a large inland lake that once covered the San Luis Valley - named "Lake Alamosa" when evidence of the lakebed was discovered in 2002 - dried up due to climate change.