Great Sand Dunes National Park

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Great Sand Dunes was one of our Honeymoon road trip stops, and honestly, we did not have the greatest time - however, because we very poorly planned. Read on so you can learn from our mistakes and really harness what this park has to offer!

We drove into Great Sand Dunes through some very dusty, curvy backroads and did not think to stop and pick up lunch to eat in the park - mistake number one. There is NOT much AT the park and a pre-packed meal on the side of the dunes would have been phenomenal. See, we didn’t really look up what to do in the park besides see the big dunes. We had NO idea this is a recreational hang-out spot. Due to mountain water run off, you have to cross freshwater to get to the dunes (something I DID NOT SEE in any photos) but we popped our shoes off and went on up the dunes. We also wished we wore flowy pants and long sleeves as the wind whipped the sand around and actually cut us up. We also wished we prebooked or brought our own boards so we could board down the slopes as everything there was closed or fully booked. Lastly, since it was May and “off season” there was ONE bathroom open in the whole park.

Now, don’t think we hated this park - we just didn’t really get to experience much since we had to leave to get food, did not have water attire, nor windy sand attire, or bikes/ boards or any other outdoor equipment. Proper planning could have given us a full day of activity.