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Photo: NPS Photo / Public domain · source

Canyons & deserts

White Sands National Park

Alamogordo, NM · Tularosa Basin, Southern New Mexico$$25 per vehicle, good for 7 days

About

The sand at White Sands National Park, about 15 miles from Alamogordo, New Mexico, is gypsum. The dunes spread over 275 square miles of the Tularosa Basin, and more than half of them are inside the park. Missile tests at White Sands Missile Range can close Dunes Drive, the only road into the dunefield, for up to three hours, and for now you can't stop or get out of the car between miles 3 and 5.5. The Alkali Flat Trail is 5 miles round trip over 60-foot dunes with no shade or water. Don't start it at 85 degrees or hotter.

Highlights

World's largest gypsum dunefieldEight-mile Dunes Drive into the dunesSledding down the white slopesSunset strolls and full moon hikesAlkali Flat Trail, 5 miles round trip

Getting there

19955 Highway 70 West, Alamogordo, NM 88310

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Part of these collections

The United States National Parks63 places

The United States National Parks

All 63, for anyone keeping count, with the famous ones up top and the quieter ones further down.