Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve Reviews

Such a unique place. Highly recommend hiking up the Dunes if you are able.

This place was amazing even in winter. I can not wait to go back when the river is flowing. Dont forget to bring a saucer to sled down the hills with. You can also camp out here. I think the fee was around $20/night. I would recommend some good hiking boots for walking up in the sand and possibly a change of socks if you dont want sand in your feet for the ride home!

Taking a day trip out to this park is totally worthwhile if you re looking to hike, sandboard, or sled the dunes, or float down the creek at the bottom of the dunes. I went here on a 63 degree day and, with no clouds in the sky, the weather was perfect. (I imagine that going here mid-summer would be uncomfortably hot as there s no shade anywhere on the dunes.) you don t need shoes if you plan to hike because the sand is super soft. However, you DEFINITELY need the following: water (at least 1.5L if you re planning to hike to the tallest dune), sunscreen, a bandanna (to protect from sand blowing around on a windy day - ouch), and sunglasses. Also snacks, bc who doesn t like to snack while hiking?

Climbing the dunes was way more difficult than I thought it d be, but the views from the tallest one were worth it. Side note - you can rent sleds & sandboards from local shops just outside of the park (check online for locations to see what s open). Standard plastic sleds don t perform so well on the dunes.

One of the best experiences of my life. Definitely a bucket list item to see this park.

Be ready for wind and sand everywhere! (And in every piece of clothing!)Lots of fun playing on the dunes and creek. If you bring a dog make sure you have a way to protect their eyes and ears from blowing sand, mine ended up with a ear infection due to sand building up in there

Super fun and unique experience; be ready for a workout though! Climbing up a sand Hill can become exhausting rather quickly. I'd also advise not going in the summer heat like I did. The sand was burning hot at times.

Amazing National park and wonder. Kids will have a lot of fun. Bring the sand board from Oasis or other spots to fully enjoy the sand. Stay or camp nearby to fully enjoy the night sky and see the milkyway with the naked eye. There is zapata falls nearby as added things to do.

Don't go when it's windy, it's very intense. Otherwise the dunes are a great playground!

Great Sand Dunes what an amazing place. Had a great time with my family. So great to see all the families having a good time.

What a great place to visit! This is an amazing environment that has something to offer for all kinds of visitors in all seasons. Hiking, camping, exploring a unique environment, sand skiing/snowboarding, sledding if there is snow. It has all this and more. The visitor center has a very good film describing how the area was formed as well as other hands on exhibits to learn about the dunes. The only negative is that there is no place close by in the winter to rent a sand board for sliding down the dunes.

Very fun lost my slides worth the trip and the money

Beautiful place and a good place to exercise,the river is amazing just get prepared with drinking water and food, there is a restaurant a few miles away but is always full

Fun, bring water shoes, drinking water, sun glasses. Perhaps a slead

Very unique national park. Rent the sleds from the Oasis and take a few rides down! Great photo opps too.

Great place. We were here on summer, weekdays and there were no ranger tours or night programs. Place was packed. Would be nice to have programs throughout the summer. Sand sledding is the best. Do not had onto the handles and keep your mouth closed.

Amazing! Highly recommend renting a sled. Tons of fun.

This place is incredible. Cannot reiterate enough however to take bug spray. Gnats and mosquitos will be relentless everywhere in the park.

Love this Park. It allows pets and gives people the freedom to explore and run around in nature. It is especially wonderful when Medano Creek is running and visitors can spend the day on "the beach". A must visit in late spring!

This is a very interesting park to visit. There are several different landscapes you can see at this park in addition to the sand dunes. We only had time to visit the sand dunes on out way through the area. You could spend several days there exploring the park. The sand dunes are impressive. It was amazing to see the mountains of sand with bigger mountains behind them.

It's an interesting place to visit but if in summer then climbing the dunes is hard work. If also decide to rent sledge or sandboard the even more hard work. Please note to get to Dunes from popular parking place then will need to cross the creek so will get wet feet if water is flowing.
After sledging you will get sandy.

The sand dunes are an amazing place to visit at any age.
The dunes are fun to climb and the creek is perfect for cooling off.

We stopped by here for a few hours during our road trip. We use to come here every year for camping. And it brought back a lot of good memories!
The creek is cold this time of year but not horrible. Usually early summer the water is refreshing to cool off in from hiking on the dunes.
I'd recommend this to anyone. But if it gets windy you'll need a good windbreaker.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

A little windy. Can we say mind blowing . Killer gift shop with wonderful, knowledgeable staff. Got our 3D map here and will love it forever In our coffee table.

Great place! I spend 3 hours with my friends and we have great fun! nice place for photography. Kids will enjoy this place

We had so much fun between rain clouds. We were able to take our dog on the Dunes all the way to the top. What a blast!!

We need to go back here and explore more. We did a short stop while traveling through to check it out but it was pretty mind blowing. Can't wait to get a sand sled for next time.

Very awesome place. A must see in Colorado. My wife was pregnant so we couldn't go too far up the mounds but next time I will try to get to the top.

We had an amazing time here! We ended up spending way more time here than we anticipated. There's a lot of space, so it's easy to get away from others while you're there.

We definitely plan to revisit and possibly check out sand boarding, or longer hikes.

I don't like sand. It's coarse, and rough, and irritating, and it gets everywhere.

I seriously love this place. I enjoyed walking on the sand specially.

Beautiful, well maintained park, a must see for locals and travelers

It was an awesome experience . Don t under estimate the sand , cold , wind and altitude . Remember it s harder coming down than it actually is going up. Go slow ,take deep breaths and drink lots of water .

LOVE the dunes! So much fun walking around and so amazing when you consider how they were formed. I came for the first time in the late 80s and it was pretty quiet here. Just visited again in July of 2019 and the place was PACKED! Couldn't believe the line to get in and the number of people here.

So beautiful. Dog friendly, love taking our pets here (please be sure to bring bags for pup potty breaks). A wonderful spot to explore!

So beautiful and amazing. Rent a board to slide down the dunes before you get there at the Oasis.

This place is AWESOME!! AND, located in Colorado!! Beautiful!! Campsites too!! NICE!!

Beautiful. Love our national parks. Not able to drive thru and view much.

Great landscapes and fun place to wander. Sand boarding was fun. You need to rent sand boards and sleds at rentals near Alamosa around 45 min drive from park. They don t rent at the park during winters.

Good workout to climb to the top of the highest dune ! Beautiful area. They did not charge entrance fees when we happened to be there this weekend. Campground and medano pass road closed during winter but we camped down the road at zapata falls . Snow sleds don t work on the sand but sand sleds and boards are rented out here at at some other local shops. Pretty place.

Great to get out with the family. Even better with the little creek providing some relief from the heat. Beautiful scenery

Open during the shutdown. Visitors center is closed. Pit toilets only.

Underrated national park. This is a perfect place to spend a day or multiple. Family friendly and great for the signal traveler.

Consider getting a backcountry permit and camping on the dunes or a multi-day backpacking trip in the neighboring Sangre De Cristo mountains.

Newest National Park! Amazing views, go early to avoid hot sand. Dog friendly on leash!

So surprising to see such massive sand dunes in us !! Amazing experience !! You must try the surf board and camping IN the sand dunes.. yes you can do that !!! Check out our experience on insta: @bluedottrekkers

There are a few trails but not much of anything else. There is a dirt road which you can go only with a 4WD vehicle.

Went here with my Doggo Darth Sadieous, who loved the hike. We went on a slightly chillier day, but the sand was still warm to hot in some places. Make sure to bring alot of fresh water if you bring your dog. Or she can stop my random families for water! Otherwise, it was a great trip good views fun place to go. Weird how it looks like theres a desert in the middle of colorado. Bring some plastic boards to slide down on....!

Great place to visit, bring the sand slider, you will have fun.

Highly recommend coming in the afternoon. Hit up the visitor center (which is amazing) and then once the sun dips behind the dunes hiking is way more manageable, especially if you have kids with you!

The dunes are amazing and so much bigger than you think. Worth the drive!

We did not get to the top. Walking on sand takes more energy and going back up was no joke. We were exhausted. We stayed at the lower section and had a blast Sand Boarding for the first time. Lots of fallings and lots of laughs. Hubby was planning on going to the top of the High Dunes, but after all the walking back up after Sand Boarding, he was done. Lol. It was windy when we went, I suggest wearing pants because strong wind and sand together felt a lot like sand blasting our legs. It was also easier for us to walk barefooted with socks on. We also enjoyed going through the Medano Pass and crossing the creeks with our 4x4 RAM 1500. It was our first time off-roading and it was lots of fun. We recommend starting from the opposite end on Highway 69 and ending in the Great Sand Dunes. It is less strenuous and better views.

It's unique but fairy small and isn't as interpretive as some other parks. One road in with a couple of pull off points (which are all great photo opportunities)

Neat thing to see! Watch the video in the visitors center to understand why they are there

This is a good day waster especially with covid19. Keep in mind its about a half mile of sand between the parking lot and the base of the sand dunes, closest recognized place to eat out is about 40 min away.

There is more to do in the park besides the Dunes so keep that in mind when comming!

Exhausting and we have sand in every crevice. Good times!!

During the day we spent time by the river, then we got a back country pass and hiked into the dunes to camp overnight and it was amazing. The sunset and sunrise was spectacular. The hike up the sand dunes was definitely a bit harder than I expected though.

Really amazing natural park that I can only describe as surreal. To see some of the largest sand dunes in the world with a mountain backdrop is just amazing. While I was there I also did some dune boarding by renting a dune board from the gas station just before the park entrance. The welcome center is well worth the visit to learn about the dune and to orient yourself.

It was very cold in late March and windy and started to snow and the sand was wet and the wax they give you only works so well to slick up sled.

Rent a sled! No one mentioned it before our visit. Just outside the park there is a general store where you can rent wooden sleds. You can slide down the dunes. Even though we missed out on this we enjoyed a short hike to the Dunes and playing in the sand. I would love to visit in the evening.

We could only stop for a few minutes but it was great! Driving through and stopped just before dark. Liked it alot!

This place is supernatural. Came here for my wife bday weekend road trip. The scenery was amazing especially sitting upon a dune looking around. I highly recommend this destination to anyone.

My SO lost her phone in the dunes so it wasn't as positive as I would want and the rental for sandboards is $20 so a little pricey.

Bring a 4X4 you will be very happy if you do. They ask to have high clearance but it's not clear to how high that might be. The Ranger advise against driving all wheel drive because they pull several vehicles out of the fun areas of the trail all the time, so only 4x4s if you get stuck you will be fine and have to pay to get towed out of there, so up to you you cross creeks with good amount of water I believe 14" to 20" of water not in the beginning but near the 4x4 campgrounds

How can you not love this place? The hike up to High Dune is worth the effort.

Fantastic. Go out on the dunes at night under the moon.

Water in September is unheard of. Great facilities.

It was amazing!! The little hike it took to get almost to the top was well worth it. I couldn't go any more, my legs and calves were on fire. They put in work lol. Took some time, but the family kept going. Take a good pair of shoes you can tie well. And if sand isn't to hot, you can just enjoy the hike in just your socks. Got some good pictures while up there as well. Have Fun!

The dunes and mountains are beautiful. The water was gun to play on