Day 8
Great Sand Dunes, sand beneath the 4,000-metre peaks
Morning
High Dune or Star Dune, and sandboarding
The highest dunes in North America (up to 230 m) stranded at the foot of 4,000 m peaks: an improbable setting. The climb to High Dune is done in the cool (350 m of ascent in sand, every second step slipping back), and the descent on a sandboard hired from the Oasis Store at the park entrance. The sand exceeds 60 °C in the afternoon: closed shoes compulsory.
Afternoon
Medano Creek and Zapata Falls
At the foot of the dunes, the seasonal Medano Creek flows in pulsing waves over the sand (peak flow in May and June), an improvised beach at 2,500 m. Then Zapata Falls (1.2 km): a waterfall hidden in a granite crevice, reached by wading through the icy stream.
Evening
Starry sky
An International Dark Sky Park since 2019: at 2,500 m, in an almost empty valley, the dunes stand out in silhouette beneath the Milky Way.
