Great Sand Dunes NP Colorado: Significance or Safety?

When I first heard there was a National Park called Great Sand Dunes I wasn’t drawn to visit. I am from Michigan and our coasts offer some of the best dunes in the world. (Check out Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore for dune climbs as high as 450 ft.) The more I read about Colorado’s dunes the more I realized these were really sand mountains, almost double the size of anything I had experienced.

Evening crept up on us quickly and we pulled into GSD NP late afternoon on a fairly cool September day. Grabbing our sandboards (rented just outside the park) we hiked through the dried bed of Medano Creek and found some bunny hills to practice on. My oldest, Josiah (15) was in paradise. He pulled the wax bar from his shorts pocket, slicked up the bottom of this wooden board and took off down a 50 foot hill. Everyone laughed and cheered and big smiles became advertisements for THE GREAT SAND DUNES!

The silty sand was dense in the park and made it a little easier to trudge through than the sands I’m used to at home. However, after myself and all four of our kids trecked through the dunes to High Dune we quickly realized first, why it was named that, and second that most of us didn’t want to proceed any further. Josiah certainly had different longings, and Moriah (11) my adventure girl wasn’t going to be left behind. This 650 ft. dune, at 8,000 ft. above sea level wasn’t enough and I hoped that Star Dune, the parks tallest at 755 feet would fulfill the aspirations of these two.

From the top of High Dune, I watched Josiah and Moriah march for over an hour as I sat with two of my boys listening to their thrilling adventures here at our new base camp. The 12,000 ft. peaks of the Sangre de Cristos (The Blood of Christ) Mountains making an amazing backdrop to the dunes and teaching us a bit about why the sand seemed to remain where it was, within this great rocky barrier.

It was at this point a dilemma arose. Dark clouds that I had been noticing from miles away crept closer and threatened to advance over the exposed dunes that we hoped to enjoy. I pondered thoughts of risk vs. reward and wondered what would happen if I went back to my wife having made the wrong decision. There is always some risk when you are in great places. While we can make efforts to be in control, the wilderness doesn’t like to be tamed by our expectations and demands. As I sat in a moment that I didn’t ever want to end I remembered a book I’d read by Erwin McManus called The Barbarian Way. To keep it short, he mentions in the book that significance in life is often more important than safety. While I don’t want to take unnecessary risks, I don’t want my kids to grow up being so timid and careful that they fail to do things of significance and impact.

I chose to stay and let the kids play, and watch Josiah and Moriah summit this monster. Josiah’s board teetered on the narrow ridgeline at the top of Star Dune. From my vantage point, I could have been watching a couple of ants. It was far out. They seemed small in comparison to everything in my panorama. Josiah committed on the board, Moriah followed running down the hill weaving a perfect line in the undulating sand. By my timing, it took Josiah just over 2 minutes on the board to complete what took over 60 minutes to hike. Those two minutes seemed longer than the hour, however, as I watched. It was like watching a slow-motion video of my boy growing up. A moment I’ll never forget. The celebration at the finish line was memorable.

To be honest the storm did hit the park. (Charity, my wife, wished I had turned back sooner.) It would have been dangerous to be on the dunes with the lightning, but we made it back just in time. We were graciously rewarded that day and I watched the storm disappear over the mountains in the rearview mirror as we sped on to the next adventure.

Tony's Top 5 Tips!

1. Arrive early to give yourself plenty of time (we felt rushed!)

2. Book lodging months in advance @ the Great Sand Dunes Lodge if you want to stay near the park! There are not many hotel options. http://www.gsdlodge.com/

3. Bring water as you hike into the dunes. Altitude and walking in sand create a dangerous combination that wears on you!

4. Bring a snack into the dunes. It is a long walk across Medono Creek back to the parking area.

5. Rent a sandboard or sled for each person in your group. It is a long wait between turns as the boarder hikes back up the hill. Rent at the Oasis Store located 4 miles from the Great Sand Dunes Visitor Center near the park entrance. Hours vary; call 719-378-2222