Great Sand Dunes in Colorado? These videos will make you WANT to visit!

The Road to Great Sand Dunes National Park

If you have been keeping up with the Traveling with Terriers crew for a while, you know Winston is a warm, sunshiny, afternoon loving kinda dog. So, when this episode opens, he is most definitely NOT a happy camper. It’s snowing. In Santa Fe, New Mexico. In April. Thankfully, we are able to head to southern Colorado where it is MUCH warmer, and Winston discovers the joy of feeling the sand between his paws. As long as that sand doesn’t come with water attached it’s joyful at least!

Danny had never been to Great Sand Dunes before. I had visited once several years ago and loved it. He was pretty doubtful until he got his first look. Now, it is one of his favorite places that we have visited.

Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve: The Park Itself

Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve is located in southern Colorado. It is the result of a huge shallow sea that encompassed the area millions of years ago. As the sea dried up, it created a wind tunnel between the two mountain ranges surrounding it and the wind tunnel blew the sand around until it became the giant sand dunes we see today. The park is known for its beauty and recreational activities- sledding down the sand dunes, hiking, and just hanging out at the “beach” that forms each spring from snow melt further up the mountains and runs right through the park. It is truly a great place to visit.

New Friends

When we pulled up to our campsite, we noticed a couple next to us that seemed to be having some difficulty with their RV. Danny is one of those people that makes friends with everyone and is always very helpful to anyone in need. So, he went over to find out if he could help them. Turns out they were a couple from Germany – Otto and Hesby. They had just arrived in the states and rented the RV earlier that day to do some traveling in the area and thought the Great Sand Dunes would be a good overnight stop. Since Danny and I have an America the Beautiful park pass that allows us into any National Parks, Preserves, Historic sites and countless other places, we offered to let them ride with us into the park.

Really, I think this was Danny’s way of getting to go to the park earlier than we planned- he was as excited as Otto and Hesby!

So, into the park we went. We hiked. We attempted to sled down the dunes. We laughed and made new friends and returned to the campground with a new experience under our belt. Otto had a really cool camera that he used to record his trip on the sled down the dunes. It recorded a 360 degree view of his trip. He was kind enough to share that footage with us and allow us to use it in our video. Thanks, Otto!

Day Two at the Dunes

The next morning, after waving goodbye to our new friends, Danny and I loaded up the boys and took them for their first excursion into the park. To say they had a blast would be an understatement. We probably could have spent the whole day there letting them sniff and explore. Tommy especially loved the creek, and surprisingly, Winston thought that maybe this water wasn’t so bad, either. That sand felt really good on his feet!

Heading for a Hike

Later that afternoon, we took the boys to Zapata Falls, which is just a little way down the road from the Great Sand Dunes. This was a really neat hike! The waterfall was still partially frozen (we were there in April), so seeing the water flowing behind the ice was amazing! Getting to the waterfall was a bit hazardous though, because part of the creek was also still frozen. I was wishing I had some hiking poles with spikes. We ended up keeping the dogs on the thawed side of the creek and going one at a time to see the falls. It was still a really cool adventure.

End of an Adventure

After our hike, we headed back to the campground to relax and get ready for a long travel day. The last night of our Santa Fe trip passed peacefully. A great end to our adventure!

For more Traveling with Terriers, check out our other Behind the Scenes blogs, Travel-a-Long, Hike-a-Long, Drive-a-Long, and Top 5 Tips and Tricks videos. Until next time, happy traveling!