Sandboard in Great Sand Dunes National Park
Alamosa County, Colorado
Description
Added by Cameron Catanzano
Come on, there isn't much out there that sounds cooler than sand boarding. Low and behold Southern Colorado is home of the US's largest sand dunes and one of the best places to check this off of your bucket list.
Outside of the national park there are two different companies that can rent sand boards and sleds for your day use at around $20 per board per day. However, If it is raining a lot and the dunes are too wet, or if the dunes are frosted over both companies will not rent out their boards in order to maintain quality.
- Kristi Mountain Sports in Alamosa 719-589-9759
- the Oasis Store 719-378-2222
(Kristi Mountain Sports will also have boards available for purchase and is open year round. The Oasis Store however does not offer boards for purchase and is closed during the winter season.)
Make sure to get them fast. These are very popular and it is not uncommon for them to rent out all of their boards in a given day.
Once you get get your board you should then make your way into the park then ask the ranger to direct you to the dunes if you need help. As with all other national parks regular fees are applicable.
Parking by the dunes will likely be packed. You might get lucky like us and find a spot right at the front. If not, a little walking never hurt no body.
Next, you'll walk along a short path and across a small creek and boom! you're at the sand dunes.
With heat and the parks elevation of 8,170ft at the visitor center, getting up these sand dunes each time will be physically demanding. It's totally worth it though!
For more detailed information I recently wrote a blog post on this adventure! Go check it out if you're interested :)
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Sandboard in Great Sand Dunes National Park Reviews
If you go to great sand dunes NP, then you have to go sand sledding. If you go sand sledding, then you have to hike all the way to the top and slide all the way down. Would highly recommend, most definitely the cherry on top for this trip. Make sure that you rent a sled, not a board. Boards are pretty hard and I would only only recommend for the most experienced snowboarders. Even then, it isn’t easy. Sledding is definitely the way to go. I oils also go early enough in the year so that the creek has water in it. And just be careful, on sunny days, the sand can become scorching and not very nice to bare feet. Once again, loved it and and would highly recommend it!
5.0
This is such an easy to access, gorgeous national park and sandboarding is the perfect way to enjoy it!
5.0
This Adventure is spot on and helped us plan our trip to sandboarding at Great Sand Dunes. I was disappointed that the sandboard didn't work about half of the time. I tried waxing each run like they recommend, but the board just stuck to the sand. Same story with lots of wax or no wax. I could tell others were having the same problem. It might have been because the sand was damp about 1" down, so if you carved at all, you'd just stop. But when the board did work, it was exhilarating!! I think the perfect time to do this would be late spring when the sand is dry but summer heat/crowds aren't there yet.
4.0
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