I have always loved the desert...

I have always loved the desert. One sits down on a desert sand dune, sees nothing, hears nothing. Yet through the silence something throbs, and gleams. - Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve is probably the most dynamic and contrasting landscapes in Colorado. The Sangre de Cristo mountains provide the perfect rugged backdrop against the smooth, ever-changing lines of the sand dunes. Kinda like life, huh? Hmmm....

Scientists say that the Great San Dunes starting forming when the Lake Alamosa lakebed dried up 400,000 years ago. The southwest winds are responsible for the constant reconstruction of the dunes as they whip through the mountains in a low curve.

Two creeks help transport sand from the mountains to the valley floor. The movement of sand by wind and water helps preserve the sand dunes in the constant state of change.

This state of boundless change has been witnessed by many different people through the last thousand of years. The oldest evidence of inhabitants dates back over 11,000 years. Since then, people who have called these dunes home over the centuries rage from Navajo, Apache, and Ute tribes to all types of settlers, including American and European.