Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve

Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve

Parks Directory of the United States / US National Parks / National Parks

Address: 11500 Hwy 150
Mosca, CO 81146
Phone: 719-378-6300;
Fax: 719-378-6310;
Web: www.nps.gov/grsa/
Size: 107,452 acres (park) and 41,686 acres (preserve). Park acreage includes "The Baca" section purchased on September 10, 2004.
Established: Proclaimed on March 17, 1932. Wilderness designated on October 20, 1976. Redesignated Great Sand Dunes National Monument and Preserve on November 22, 2000. Redesignated a national park on September 24, 2004.
Location: 35 miles northeast of Alamosa, Colorado, reached by US 160 and CO 150 from the south; or from CO 17 and County Six Mile Lane from the west.
Facilities: Campground (é), picnic area, rest rooms (é), visitor center (é), museum/exhibit, self-guided tour/trail. Entrance fee required.
Activities: Camping, hiking, fishing, horseback riding, auto touring, stargazing, ranger-guided programs.
Special Features: In this high mountain valley are the tallest dunes in North America, flanked by some of the highest peaks in the Rocky Mountains. The park and preserve protects much of the Great Sand Dunes' natural system, including alpine tundra and lakes, forests, streams, dunes, grasslands, and wetlands. The dunes were deposited over thousands of years by southwesterly winds blowing through the passes of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Depending on the time of day, the dunes turn different shades of rust, brown, pink, cream, gray, and gold.

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